Larroux Park - a Cedar Point Touchstone

Shared History - August/Sept. 2018

In July, the Cedar Point area's contributions to Bay St. Louis were recognized by a state historical marker, while one of the neighborhood's beloved gathering spots is undergoing a renewal.
- story by Denise Jacobs 

At the marker "unveiling"

It was with no small sense of joy and gratitude that friends and family gathered at Commodore Park in Bay St. Louis on July 21 to dedicate a an official Mississippi state historic marker. 

The plaque also commemorates five structures that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005: the Bay-Waveland Yacht Club (which stood at the former site of the Peerless Oyster Company (circa 1909), St. Joseph Chapel, the Taylor School (which later became the Bay-Waveland Garden Club), and the Bay St. Louis Little Theatre. ​

In her remarks at the marker dedication, Dot Larroux Kersanac, Cedar Point native, teacher, and the woman behind the marker, noted that Cedar Point played an important role in the development of Bay St. Louis. ​

Shared History 
is sponsored by

Click here and scroll down for archived Shared History columns

The site of the Peerless Oyster Company plant at the present day site of the Bay-Waveland Yacht Club.

The Taylor School was later the home of the Bay-Waveland Garden Club. The building was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.

St. Joseph Chapel, also lost to Hurricane Katrina.

Kersanac remembered those “coming to a new world” to work at Peerless Oyster Company from places as far away as France, Germany, Italy, and South America. They were, Ms. Kersanac noted, “starting from scratch,” and, she added poignantly, “We are the glad recipients of all their labor.” 
​
Markers of other types - indicators, perhaps - can be found in Cedar Point, as well. Larroux Park, at the corner of Dunbar Avenue and Julia Street, is one such community touchstone.  ​

Thanks to grant funding from Hancock County, the green space now boasts new swings and slides. The park is completely fenced and includes a basketball court and an old gazebo.  One very heavy picnic table rests in the shade of an old oak tree that is rooted in the yard next door, but is no respecter of fences. 

The original Larroux park

Additional Larroux Park projects in the works include park benches and trash-can container painting by Hancock Youth Leadership Academy (HYLA) teens. Josh Cothern and Charlie Luttrell, Cedar Point teens, planted a Bradford Pear tree at Larroux Park in late July as Charlie's HYLA project.  The duo and a handful of friends are committed to watering and caring for the tree in its early days. ​

Josh Cothern and Charlie Luttrell, photo by Denise Jacobs

The park is located near the site of a popular grocery store that no longer exists.  According to one Larroux family source, Ed Larroux first installed playground equipment in the early fifties, soon after he purchased what became the Mercadel  grocery store, so children could entertain themselves while their parents shopped.  In a 2016 Shoofly Magazine article, local historian Pat Murphy recalls that after owning the grocery only a few years, Ed Larroux converted the building into a warehouse, with a place in the front for neighborhood kids to play ping-pong and pool.

All this property later became Larroux Park as gifted by Ed Larroux via a 99-year-lease.

The merry-go-round is long gone, and the old (newly-replaced) swings had rusted with age, but the park remains.  On any given fall or winter day after school has ended, a group of high school boys of various shapes, sizes, and ethnicities can be found playing a game of pick-up basketball.

​It’s a happy sight, and one that reminds us of the resiliency of neighborly bonds and the strength of community.

​For this we are glad recipients.  
 ​