A 20-foot-by-40-foot building may seem small in stature, but for 68 years,
the Riverfront Mission has impacted some individuals in the city of Shreveport
in a large way.
A 20-foot-by-40-foot building may seem small in stature, but for 68 years,
the Riverfront Mission has impacted some individuals in the city of Shreveport
in a large way.
“The mission filled a need for a group of people who were social outcasts
and had no place to go,” says Aljean Wright Middleton, who authored the
booklet “Story of the Riverfront Mission of First Baptist Church, Shreveport,
Louisiana.”
“It was a collecting point for them to gather,” Middleton continues.
“Its a relic of the past, because during the 1930s, 40s and
50s, lots of people came by (the area) on trains and to the mission to
try to get some help.”
These hobos, homeless and unemployed persons moved into the area along the
Red River during the 1930s, only eight blocks from First Baptist Church of Shreveport
at the time. First, Shreveport, has moved to another location in the metropolitan
area.
The people were known as the Batture. They lived in abandoned railroad cars
along the tracks or in shanties made of tin, wood, burlap, cardboard or whatever
materials they could find.
As many as 152 called this area home at one time. Middleton notes in her publication
that the area was like a separate city.
“Some of the families had children who married other children of the area
as they grew up,” she explains. “Many of the people thought the land
was owned by the railroad; others thought they had squatters rights.”
Members from First Baptist Church of Shreveport soon developed a concern for
the Batture people. In 1932, members C.S. Toney and Ted Griffin organized a
Sunday School in a boxcar donated by the railroad company for that purpose.
Three years later, volunteers constructed the Riverfront Mission chapel.
Virginia Joyner notes that on April 16, 1938, volunteers distributed, among
other items, one pair of mens shoes, eight garments, 58 religious tracts
and 45 magazines. This was just one example of “the good that was done
with this chapel,” says Joyner, First Baptist Church of Shreveport historian
and director of the churchs Heritage Room, which maintains all archives.
The city of Shreveport decided to clean up the Riverfront area in 1945 –
including where the Batture people lived. Thus, First Baptist Church of Shreveport
faced a dilemma about what to do with the Riverfront Mission building.
The churchs board of directors learned the cost of moving the mission
was $1,000, a price too high for that period of time, Joyner reports. At that
point, board Director J.W. Baker purchased the building for $500 and moved it
to his residence. There, he used it as a workshop and as a playroom for his
two sons.
Seven years later, the Bakers moved and First Baptist Church of Shreveport
purchased the home as part of a parsonage for James Middleton and his family
to reside in when he became pastor of the congregation. Thus, the church owned
the Riverfront Mission building once again.
After Middleton passed away in 2001, the church sold the parsonage. The new
owners did not need the accompanying mission building and allowed First Baptist
Church of Shreveport to donate that facility to the Pioneer Heritage Center
at Louisiana State University at Shreveport.
Founded in 1976, the Pioneer Heritage Center is a collection of 19th-century
structures, exhibits and artifacts designed to serve as a history laboratory
for students and teachers, community groups, tourists and the public.
“When we thought about where to move the mission, we thought of where
it could serve mankind the best,” Joyner explains. “So, the Pioneer
Heritage Center was the logical place to put it.”
Members at First Baptist Church of Shreveport raised the $10,000 needed to
refurbish the mission late last year. By March, the move from the former Middleton
home to the Louisiana State University at Shreveport campus was complete.
The churchs Baptist Builders – a group of men that repairs items
and buildings for the less fortunate and the elderly – put the finishing
touches on the mission so it could be restored to its original look of the 1940s.
“Everybody loves to know about their roots, but the mission also places
a reminder to visitors at the Heritage Center that the church is important wherever
you go,” Middleton notes.
First Baptist Church of Shreveport pastor Greg Hunt reflects, “I think
its a wonderful way to preserve the significance of that mission and to
allow the history of that mission to live in the hands of those who inspire
us today.”