The Taylortown Bell Tower

Taylortown is a small town right outside of Bossier City.  There’s not much in Taylortown.

The church was built in 1906, by a Methodist congregation in Taylortown. It was designed by architect John Dortch. The church was used during the first few decades of the twentieth century, and due to a dwindling membership, the church was eventually abandoned, and fell into ruin. It was at one time used as a barn to store hay, and either accidentally or purposely caught fire, destroying all but the bell tower.
My friends father was born in Ringgold, Louisiana, about thirty miles southeast of Taylortown. they would travel from Shreveport to Ringgold every few weekends, to visit remaining relatives. As he grew up through the 50’s and early 60’s, he would see the tower every trip, and through the years, watched the wooden shingled roof slowly disintegrate. It eventually collapsed down into the interior of the brick structure. Within the past few years, the roof was replaced with a steel framed facsimile, protecting the structure below once again, as seen in the picture. The structure is now fenced in.

The  Legend is that that a bride was waiting in the bell tower for her fiancé, who has killed in a car crash on his way to pick her up.  She apparently was so grief stricken that she fell down the steps and died.  Others say she hung her self in the bell tower, and on moonlit nights, you can hear the ringing of the bell and a woman’s scream.  Another tale is that the church was burned down by a grief stricken father over the death of his only daughter who was going to be married in the church.  In reality, the church actually caught fire by hay that was stored inside the abandoned church.