The C. J. Barbier Family

By Charles Barbier

Mrs. C. J. (Mary) Barbier and her husband, Cleveland Joseph (Steve) Barbier, came to Jacksonville from Longview in 1919. Shortly after, they opened one of the first drive-in service stations in town which was located at the corner of Ragsdale and Commerce, where Western Auto store now is located.

They later opened a combination station and auto parts store at the present location of the J. A. Staton Bldg. Materials on Commerce Street. At that time, they sold tires and auto parts inside and had one gas pump outside to serve cars.

The next station was a larger facility at the southwest corner of Ragsdale and Commerce streets near the Palace Theatre. At that time they served as the fire department in addition to operating the station. Since the town was small, only one fire truck was needed and Mr. Barbier and an employee manned it to answer fire calls.

The Barbiers also had service stations at the present locations of Abell Pharmacy and farther west on Commerce Street, in the "Catfish Row" section.

The Palace Café was opened in the early 1930s, and was in operation before Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Barbier and Wesley Garrett built Love's Lookout swimming pool in 1936. After operating the swimming pool for several years, Mrs. Barbier started managing the Palace Café, which she operated until it was sold in 1947.

After this Mrs. Barbier worked as a waitress at the Liberty Hotel and Matteson's Café before the latter closed. Now she is busy as a grandmother, since her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Barbier, and grandson, Charles Lawson Barbier, Jr., live in Jacksonville.

Mrs. Barbier still is active as a nursery worker in Central Baptist Church.

Jacksonville's first drive-in service station, opened here by Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Barbier in 1919.

A Barbier project opened in 1930 was the Palace Café, long a downtown gathering place in Jacksonville. In the picture is Autrey Langford, now a Beaumont fireman.