Looking through family photo albums, I turned up this impressive view of Lauderdale Industries from the early 1900s.
The dirigible factory is in the foreground (this photo was no doubt taken from one of our own dirigibles, perhaps during a test flight), with the linotype foundries and flax mills in the distance.
The smokestack marks the location of the original Sno-Cone parlors.
After these ventures failed, one by one, and Father went to prison for tax evasion and other things we don’t like to talk about at family reunions (let’s just say the word “Alcatraz” is never mentioned at those), the entire 8,000-acre site was eventually developed into Chickasaw Gardens.
I’m glad the developers were able to save some of the trees.
