In 1934, City Park Boulevard only had 3 homes listed and by 1940 it was almost fully developed to what we see today. The area along the bayou has long been know as one of the places to find the most beautiful homes in the Garden District.
Dorothy Hylton Sims
owner 1940-1947
Dorothy Hylton Prosser was born in Louisiana in the year 1894. At 21, she married Dr. Eaton Kittredge Sims, a man twice her age in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. They were married nine years before Dr. Sims passed away in 1924. The couple had three children together in addition to children that he had from a previous marriage.
Circumstances are not entirely known, but Dorothy began to rent her home out to officers in 1941. She is found living with family during this time at 1040 Bolton Avenue or 1750 Levin Street. In 1944, she is back at her home on City Park Blvd.
The home began to fill up with Dorothy’s grown children and their spouses…and grandchildren were born; Ethlyn Sims to Ralph Hylton Sims and his wife in 1943 and Katheryn Richardson to Eleanor Sims Richardson and her husband in 1944.
Sergeant Ralph Hylton Sims was a B-17 tailgunner in the European theater. He was the son of Mrs Dorothy P. Sims, 823 City Park Boulevard, Alexandria, and the husband of Eliza Bowe Sims, Natchez.
Bentley F. Morgan & wife Willie Lee Aldridge
became owners 1959
Bentley Foster Morgan was born on December 14, 1892, in St Landry, Louisiana, his father, Dr. Gordan Morgan, was 25 and his mother, Amelia Josephine Casey, was 19. He married Willie Lee Aldridge on December 27, 1916, in Bunkie, Louisiana. Willie Lee Aldridge was born on February 21, 1895, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, her father, Joseph Aldridge, was 32, and her mother, Mary Chapman, was 26.
The Morgans lived there for many years and their grandson, current Garden District resident John Brewer, still remembers the home fondly. (Please don’t kill me for adding your 1960, Bolton High yearbook photo…)
Florence Lanier Hall
owner 1990-2015
Florence Lelia Lanier and George Bartlett Hall announced their engagement in the Alexandria newspaper in 1947. George practiced as a lawyer in Alexandria for many years and was co-founder of the firm Gold, Hall, and Skye.
After living in the adjacent property, 2627 Jackson with her family and for years after her husband passed away, Florence moved next door into the house next door, our subject property, 823 City Park Boulevard.
During Florence’s ownership of the property, she had the attic space cleverly taken in. Today when you enter the property, you will find a door to the second floor staircase where part of the hallway used to be. Upstairs is a bedroom with an extremely large walk in closet with a window as well as an en suite bath. A bonus room with a large skylight lies on the other side of a hallway that could easily be another bedroom.
Leave a Reply