Museum was closed on my visit. It is located on a quiet street in Westwego. Origianally named Salaville, Westwego has a rich history and was a fine place to visit.
I found some good information about the building and area history,(see secondary weblink below) but a really detailed history comes from the State of Louisiana Register page, located
here.The L J. Bernard Hardware Store is locally significant in the area of commerce because it
is oneof few resources surviving to illustrate the commercial history of Westwego. Its period of
significance spans from 1907, the date of construction, until 1950, the required fifty year cutoff. In
actuality, the store continued in operation until 1997.
Westwego is located along a now-filled canal built by local planters before 1800 to
connect the Mississippi River to Bayou Segnette, the Barataria Estuary and New Orleans. In the
mid-nineteenth century persons of French descent moved there from the Bayou Lafourche and
Barataria areas. At first the settlement was called Salaville after Pablo Sala, who is regarded as
the town's founder. Later it became known as Westwego in honor of the thousands of travelers
who crossed to the west bank of the Mississippi River at that point before continuing their
westward journeys. The area's small population was somewhat increased in 1893 by an influx of
refugees from the hurricane-devastated Cheniere Caminada (near Barataria Bay and the Gulf of
Mexico). Despite the presence of the canal, serious economic development did not occur until
near the end of the nineteenth century, by which time the railroad had arrived. A fire destroyed
the four blocks of the community nearest the river in 1907, but rebuilding began immediately.
The settlement received its village charter in 1919. Only a short time later it was declared
a town after a locally sponsored census proved the population to be greater than 1000. Led by
appointed mayor Conrad Buchler, town officials spent the first two years of Westwego's official
existence establishing laws (including tax laws for much-needed revenue), organizing and
supplying the town government, repairing roads and building gravel sidewalks, improving
drainage and ferry service, and obtaining a safe water supply and electrical power. Vic Pitre, the
town's first elected mayor, continued the improvements. Under his leadership the town obtained
fire protection, "modern schools," natural gas service, a children's playground, an improved water
supply, paved streets and sidewalk improvements. During his administration (1921-1941), the
town's population quadrupled. Part of this increase was due to depression era economics, which
drove many rural families toward urban areas. Although other businesses existed, the
community's economy was (and still is) centered upon the seafood and boat building/repair
industries.
Westwego's most prosperous era was the 1940s, when at least two of the town's five
local canneries furnished seafood to the armed services. Unfortunately, no documents exist
which specifically record the number and types of businesses operating at that time or earlier. However, reminiscences of local residents included in Westwego: From Cheniere To Canal give
some indication. In addition to the canneries, businesses mentioned in this book include
hardware, general merchandise, clothing and grocery stores; butcher shops; dance halls, bars,
and distilleries (including three which operated "secretly" during prohibition); cafes; movie
theaters; doctor's and dentist's offices; a pharmacy; and a post office. A railroad depot and a
ferry landing also existed. Author Reeves describes Sala Avenue, Westwego's historic mixed
commercial and residential row, as a real "urban strip" during the period in question.
By the 1940s, however, the town's decline had already been set in motion. Concerned
with preventing flood waters from reaching New Orleans, the Corps of Engineers condemned and
closed the locks connecting the Westwego Canal to the Mississippi River in 1939. Silt gradually
filled the waterway. In 1954 the State Highway Department purchased the canal from its private
owners. Between that year and 1962, the state filled the canal, built an expressway across part,
and sold the rest of the newly created land as individual lots. Without the canal, Westwego's
commerce quickly declined. Today is it difficult to visualize the town's past commercial life, for
Sala Avenue is only a ghost of its former self. The streetscape continues to consist of houses
mixed among business establishments. Almost all of the latter are either post-1950 buildings or
structures altered to the extent that their ages cannot be determined. Only five can be accurately
identified as historic because they are obviously fifty or more years of age and retain their
integrity and character. These include a brick seafood factory (1943), a two story combination
bank and office building (teens or 1920s), two small brick structures dating to the 1930s or 1940s,
and the candidate.
The L. J. Bernard Hardware Store is one of these clearly historic commercial structures.
The building was erected after the 1907 Westwego fire for Duroc Terrebonne. In 1917, L. J.
Bernard purchased it and opened his hardware store. Bernard's descendants operated the
business until 1997, when they closed the store and sold the building to the City of Westwego. At
that point members of the Westwego Historical Society began negotiations to convert the store
into a museum. These talks ended successfully, and the museum was established in 1999. The
society administers the museum; the building remains under municipal ownership.