No fooling around in LeCompte. I took a deep breath and did Alexandria on I-49, the fastest way through it all. I ended up in Boyce and crossed the Red River on La.8, one of the great roads from one side of La. to the other. It also has great roads branching off of it which is foddar for another ride. Or have I done that already? Geez?
     The Red River Valley in Louisiana is very simular to The Mississippi (MS) Delta, you know, Home of the Blues, etc. Very, very simular as I further reflect. It is flat and agriculturally based with all the negatives and positives that come with that classification. A lot of little towns have been reduced to just road signs and falling down buildings. In my lifetime I have seen thriving businesses turn to rubble.  The R.R. Valley is full of such examples. Family farms and old homesteads are gone. The ride from Boyce to Colfax displayed a few examples.
  Above and below is what is left of a cotton gin.(look up Eli Whitney). This one does not look that technically old. There was no newer one around.
Most cotton gins were located near the tracks. The railroads were their means of distribution.
Above is Vanderlick place. That's about all I know for now. Remember, my last name isn't Google.
Yes, I turned around and came back for this one.
     I decided to zoom it and was treated to the woodwork above the doors and side windows next to the front door. It is a simple house with simple ornamentation.
I am sure is was the family's pride and joy. Look at the setting. The Red River levee is a distance behind the house.
The Store at McNeely Crossing
"BEN LITTLEPAGE, Proprietor dealing in Pecans, cotton, cattle and Hay." That's the way he wrote it.
Whenever "Crossing" is used in a place's name, it stirs something in me. The place, being a "crossing" meant that it was a rare place where a river or stream might be forged, ferried or bridged. The Red River, prior to its recent damming, was not that deep or wide most of the year. It could be crossed.
This I bet was an old store or bar.
I've spent 30 minutes Googling McNeely. It will take more.
Check out the old pecan weighing and sorting machine (?) on the porch..
      "Steve, last year when we went back to N S U for Class of '55 Reunion, I noticed a woman  who looked familiar to me. When I approached her we realized we had had some classes togather and were both '55 graduates.When I finally saw her name tag I had a real shock. Her married name is Littlepage  She informed me that her son, Ben, was in the construction and dredging business. I told her that I knew,  he was setting up a dredging operation for me at the time in Selma, AL.  Small world.I think Colfax is their home and probably the store belonged to her husband's father and grandfather.Small world.Good luck and keep us posted on the seach. Did you see the head of the prehistoric alligator like animal in the Grand Ecore Center? It looks like a small dinasaur".

Thanks, Marion. Yes, I did see the gator. I'm going back up there. It is too cool.
                    Below is a note from my long time freelance reporter, Marion.
He flashed when the not too common name, Littlepage, was mentioned and he sent me this: