Montpelier Roads, St. Helena Parish, Lousiana
File submitted by Mrs. Inez Bridges Tate and prepared by D.N. Pardue
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From publication "Old Montpelier, 1804, New Montpelier, 1904" 
compiled by Inez B. Tate and published by St. Helena Historical
Association, 1993.  Reprinted with permission.

     Montpelier is located about 10 miles south of Greensburg,

ten miles west of Amite, seven miles east of Pine Grove and only

about three miles from the Livingston Parish line.  When the town

developed after the coming of the railroad, roads into Montpelier

were barely more than trails.  Even though cars were already

being mass-produced in the United States, there were few owned

and used in Montpelier.  Most people used horse-drawn buggies or

wagons.  The highways of today take different routes than the

early roads.

     Early roads followed the higher ridges and served the needs

of residents, connecting farms with neighboring farms and homes.

At least on led to an easily accessed ford on the Tickfaw River,

north of present Hwy. 16 (also known as the Three-Knotch or the

Covington-Amite-Montpelier-Baton Rouge Road).  Later a bridge

spanned the River at this point.  This road, at some points was

the same as hwy. 16 from Amite - Montpelier.  At other points, it

followed a different route.  For instance, it came between Killian

Chapel and the Church Cemetery, traveled west to near the Hubert

Kemp place, then took a slightly northerly direction to cross the

River and up the hill to intersect the Greensburg - Montpelier road

between the Brown and Tate properties.

     Further north was the Fletcher Bridge and this road, after 

leaving the bridge, took a westerly directino to intersect the

Montpelier - Greensburg Road west of Twelve Mile Creek near where

Bobby Morgan's home is today.

     A road led south almost parallel to the railroad tracks,

crossing Tickfaw River near the same place as the Railroad, pro-

ceeding east past the George Cemetery to the Springfield Road

(present Hwy. 43).

     Pine Grove was reached by either of two roads - the lower

and upper Pine Grove Roads.  The lower road followed the same 

general route as the present road, known as "lower Pine Grove

"Road" (Hwy. 1041).  The upper road was a continuation of the road

that lay between the Brown and Tate properties.  It traveled wes-

terly, passing in front of Shiloh Baptist church and into Pine

Grove.

     In 1928, Huey P. Long took office as Governor of Louisiana

and launched an ambitious plan to develop a highway system within

the State of Louisiana.  He directed that inmates of Louisiana 

State Prison provide the labor.  Montpelier, along with St. Helena

Parish, benefitted greatly from this practice.  Present day Hwys.

16 and 43 were built in this manner with hand labor, using shovels

and wheelbarrows.  Gravel was spread and passable roads were the

end result.  The prisoners were kept in "camps" throughout the 

Parish (in this area they were housed in Pine Grove) and trans-

ported daily to the work site.

     The gravel roads served the people in their travels for many

years.  They were not without their problems, however.  During

dry weather, a cloud of dust followed any vehicle driving down

the road.  From time to time, the operator of the road grader came

along and smoothed some of the pot-holes and spread the gravel.

It was necessary for the operator to proceed down one side of the

highway, then return on the other side.  Between gradings, the

gravel would pile up in the center of the road.  This slowed traf-

fic considerably, and would cause accidents.  The roads were nar-

row and in a short time after the road was graded, it seemed there

were only three "tracks".  Meeting a car was "harrying" and the

two drivers often "played chicken" to determine who would move

over to the outer edge and let the "lucky one" go forth.  Some-

times "hitting" a pile of gravel was almost equivalent to butting

a brick wall.

     Rainy weather brought new problems and it was not uncommon

to see cars ditched due to "sticky" roads.

     Eventually the roads were paved.  This was after World War

II.  The first to receive such treatment was Hwy. 16, which was

about 1950.  Bridges were constructed over Tickfaw River and the

other adjacent streams for a total of 3(?) bridges through the

"swamp".

     Hwy. 43 was hard-surfaced in 1956 as duly noted on the bridge

on Twelve Mile Creek.

     In 1990, the State through a contractor, began a major pro-

ject on Hwy. 16 from Pine Grove through Montpelier and on to Amite.

The road is widened with the shoulders paved also.  This moderni-

zation is using the same road bed but has changed the appearance

forever of Montpelier.  The road bed was lowered to facilitate

drainage and some buildings that were level with the highway are

now much higher and reached by newly-constructed driveways.
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