World War II Comes to Alexandria

Alexandria was a busy city before, and during World War II. Included herein are photographs, newspaper Clippings, vintage postcards, and matchbook covers which help portray life during those times.

We remember the hard working residents of Alexandria, and the soldiers who spent time at Camp Claiborne, Camp Livingston, Camp Beauregard, Esler Field, Pollock Army Air Field, and Alexandria Army Air Base.

Changes and impacts abounded in Alexandria as the war grew closer to the United States.

Suddenly there was a shortage of many of the basics of life, and a system of rationing was inaugurated. Families were issued ration books with stamps good for certain items such as gasoline, tires, meat, and sugar.

To speed military vehicles around the area, a new four lane loop named MacArthur Drive was constructed through what was farms and pastures on the western outskirts of Alexandria. It featured state-of-the-art traffic circles and interchanges. Gardner Highway became a straight paved highway, rumored to be an emergency airplane runway.

Convoys associated with the maneuvers frequently moved around and through Alexandria, and residents reported waking up in the middle of the night and watching General Patton's tanks rumbling down city streets.

Alexandria in 1940 extended only a few blocks west of Chester Street, and the outskirts of town were favorite places for the Army to set up their 155 millimeter cannon and anti-aircraft installations. Sometimes soldiers would permit children to peek through their range finders and climb all over the cannons. Occasionally, opposing forces would engage in a battle and children would fill their pockets with spent blank rifle cartridges.

This section of the Alexandria Retrospective provides a glimpse back to those times, and people who lived through it.

Photo of service men and women taken on the grounds of the Alexandria City Hall,
with the Hotel Bentley in the background

Photo of troops on parade on Third Street in Alexandria Louisiana during World War II