Rayville Supply and Hardware
Billy Coenen graciously provided information about this photo of Rayville Hardware and Supply discovered in our files. He said, “The hardware store was owned by my family. The people in the picture who I can identify are, from left to right, my grandfather, T.J. Coenen Sr., my great grandfather, Julius T. Coenen, and the 4th from the left is Jack Lamie, who was the nephew of T.J. Coenen Sr. The Coenens migrated to the United States from Belgium to Kentucky in 1872. My grandfather, T. J. Coenen, Sr., brought the family to Rayville in the early 1900s to enter into the lumber business with the Stodghill family, who had been in Rayville for many years. The Coenens built the hotel and were involved in banking, insurance and hardware business for many years. T.J. Coenen Sr., served as a member of the Louisiana legislature. He and his wife, Margaret Lamie Coenen, were the parents of longtime Rayville attorneys T.J. Coenen Jr. and William R. Coenen Sr., and longtime public school teacher Marguerite Coenen.”
If you have a photograph you’d like to share, bring it by the Beacon-News, email it to [email protected] or give us a call at 728-2250.
