By Wesley Harris
Locals and visitors alike love to eat at the Heard Freighthouse Food Park on East Railroad Avenue in Downtown Ruston. The wide range of offerings from barbeque to street tacos provide plenty of options for anyone hungry after shopping or running errands around town.
The Heard Freighthouse Food Park, owned by the Desi Bourgeois and his wife Dianne, hosts six food trucks serving up locally-produced dishes. The options include savory ribs and brisket from Bad Wolf BBQ, craft burgers from Grown and Grazed, specialty sandwiches and cookies from Staple Sandwich Co., fresh juice and acai bowls at Zeus Juice, street tacos from Taqueria La Mexicana, and delicious dishes from La Authentic Chinese.
The food trucks sit in front of a large warehouse on grounds of the old Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad freight depot. For over 100 years, the depot stood as a landmark from Ruston’s earliest days. Unfortunately, time was not kind to the all-wooden structure, and it had to be demolished some years ago.
But the sturdy brick warehouse remains, one of several belonging to Charles Raymond Heard.
Who was Raymond Heard and why did he need such a large warehouse abutting the railroad tracks?
Heard built a large wholesale grocery operation in Ruston, needing not only that warehouse but another directly across the railroad tracks where the city-owned parking lot is located at Vienna and Park.
Heard was born in the Fellowship community northeast of Dubach in 1896. His family moved to Ruston in 1899. After graduating in engineering from Louisiana Tech, he enrolled in LSU’s school of business. But in the fall of 1916 as America was entering World War I, he accepted a commission as an ensign in the U. S. Navy.
After the war, Heard returned to LSU in 1919 but dropped out to go to work as a salesman for a large Ruston business, Thompson-Ritchie Wholesale Grocery. His father ran the Ruston end of Thompson-Ritchie and served as vice-president of a chain of 22 grocery stores.
When Stephen Joseph Heard died in 1934, Ray expected to take his father’s place in the business. But when the board of Thompson-Ritchie voted, Heard fell one vote short.
After 15 years in the business, Ray Heard figured he knew how to operate a wholesale grocery business, so he immediately went out on his own, starting Raymond Heard, Incorporated. His operation grew, his distinctive bright red trucks emblazoned with “Heard All Over North Louisiana and South Arkansas,” supplying grocery stores in the region. His annual sales exceeded $5 million, a hugely successful company for that time.
Not satisfied with just one business pursuit, Heard and a partner opened two gas stations in Ruston, one at Vienna Street and Alabama Avenue and the other on West Arizona Avenue at the Rock Island Railroad tracks. He also invested in land in Ruston, buying and selling tracts. He opened a tire store and was partner in the local Dodge dealership.
Beyond Ruston, Heard purchased the Iron Mountain Bakery in Monroe in the 1920s, operating it for 20 years.
Heard was more than a savvy businessman. He was very active in Ruston civic circles as a charter member of the Ruston Kiwanis Club and the Ruston Rotary Club. He was one of 15 World War I veterans to petition for the charter of the Ruston American Legion post.
Heard achieved statewide recognition as president of the Louisiana State Board of Education. He served twelve years on the state Public Service Commission.
Among some circles, Heard was known more for his fine cattle ranch than his business pursuits. He kept a herd of 250 Hereford beef on a farm on what is now called Heard Road between Ruston and Grambling. The land was leased to Louisiana Tech after Heard’s death and served as the university’s primary beef cattle farm.
He entered cattle competition only as a hobby and had won prizes in livestock exhibitions in Baton Rouge and at the Louisiana State Fair. In 1959, he had the champion bull at the state fair.
One writer said Heard “was a fine promoter. He was perhaps better at this than as an operator because he lacked patience, and was constantly searching for a better way to do things, or for new things to do. He wanted to lead and direct activities. He was not satisfied with the average. He wanted the best as evidenced by his wholesale business, his bakery, and his cattle.”
After Raymond Heard died in 1963, his wholesale grocery business passed to the Consolidated Grocery Company, but the Ruston operation shut down in 1965. The warehouse overlooking the food trucks was mostly unoccupied for decades.
So when you partake of one of Desi’s special burgers or one of Staple’s thick muffalettas, remember the food park is named for a man who wouldn’t be denied in the corporate world and who insisted on the best and on involvement in his community and his state.
