| Oil City is on LA Highway 1 north of Shreveport The town is odd in that all the buildings are built on one side of the street; a park and railroad tracks are on the other. The 1976 movie, Creature from Black Lake, was filmed here. The story is about two Chicago college students investigating a big foot creature. Allegedly, such an animal roams northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas. |  |
Oil City is known for having the first ever oil-drilling platform that was built over water (on Caddo Lake) which was set up in 1911. This oil derrick is part of the park. |  |
A look at downtown Oil City. When comparing this photo with what is seen of the town in the movie, Creature from Black Lake, not much has changed. |  |
A view of Caddo Lake as seen from Louisiana Hwy 1. |  |
About 50 miles north of Oil City, one crosses the Sulpher River and enters Fouke, AR. Fouke is famous for sightings of the Fouke Monster--most of which started in the 1970s but can be traced back as far as 1946. There have been three movies filmed about the Fouke Monster: Legend of Boggy Creek (1972); Return to Boggy Creek (1977); and Boggy Creek II: The Legend Continues (1985). Smokey Crabtree has written books about the Fouke Monster, and appeared (along with other family members) in the Legend of Boggy Creek. Smokey also has a website--the link can be found at the bottom of this page. |  |
Myself and my daughter, Robyn, posing at the Fouke Monster mural painted on the side of the Monster Mart in Fouke. We decided to come through Fouke, AR on the way back from New Orleans in June, 2010. Vernon, Robyn and I hadn't been through here since June, 1997 so we thought it would be fun to see Fouke again. |  |
The Monster Mart sign. The Fouke Monster is riding a wild boar ... Corey, one of my website visitors, explains that the boar is symbolic for the Arkansas Razorbacks. |  |
An actual plaster cast of the foot of the Fouke Monster--on display at the Monster Mart. |  |
A bulletin board at the Monster Mart with numerous newspaper articles about the Fouke Monster from the over the years. |  |
A close-up of one of the newspaper clippings. From what we can tell, the locals in Fouke take the Fouke Monster seriously. Yes, the Monster Mart sells souvenirs, but there is not a hint of a smile in the voice when locals respond to questions about the monster. |  |
Gil and Robyn at the Fouke Monster mural. |  |
Friday night at about 11:00 P.M. at the Monster Mart. |  |
Smokey Crabtree's website: http://smokeycrabtree.com/index.html |  |