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Tuesday, July 23, 2024

The Famous Taylortown Tower

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Several views of the Taylortown tower through the years, its walls covered with bramble and ivy. Today, only the tower itself remains. Folklore says the tower is haunted, but who can say for sure?



The tower today.


Mysterious building still attracts the curious

Driving south on Highway 71, where it meets La. 527, as you come into Taylortown, a mysterious brick tower sits on the left across the railroad tracks. It’s sat there for many, many years, and although there is controversy on when the church it belongs to was built (some say around 1906, and some say the 1890s), The Shreveport Times newspaper article had the church (Taylortown Methodist Church) being dedicated on March 4, 1911. The tower can be easily seen from Highway 71 when the leaves are off the trees. The tower is located on private property, so there is NO TRESPASSING. We’ve always wanted to do a story on this tower, and when we came across the photos in the Eric Brock collection at the Northwest Louisiana Archives at LSUS that were taken in 1949, we knew we had to do it! The very first picture was one that we found in the Thurman C. Smith collection from the legendary Film Arbour Studios, Thurman Smith.


The tower as seen from the air.


An air of mystery surrounds the tower.

Photos courtesy of LSUS Archives and Special Collections — Eric Brock Collection. Colorized by Twin Blends of Northwest Louisiana.

Contact Twin Blends at mikermangham@gmail.com. These guys work hard to bring these images and stories to the community. Please consider contributions through their Patreon account or message them to get Venmo or PayPal info.

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