Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Lucas Tavern & Billie - TPR's In Focus - Sept. 9, 2026

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Lucas Tavern & Billie - TPR's In Focus - Sept. 9, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Janice Hawkins Cultural Arts Park on
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  the main campus of Troy University, featuring the
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  International Arts Center, the Fred Nall Hollis Museum,
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  and the Hua Bao Zhu Gallery. More information at troy.edu/artspark.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is In Focus,
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  and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson. Last summer, we visited
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  Old Alabama Town, operated by Landmarks Foundation,
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  in downtown Montgomery. While at Lucas Tavern,
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  we met Jacob Van Meegen, the living block manager,
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  and Billy, his Belgian Malinois dog.
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  Jacob told us about historic Lucas Tavern and its
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  ties to the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought alongside
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  George Washington during the American Revolution.
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  Welcome. Carolyn, I'm happy to be with you today.
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  The last time you and I talked, we were talking about tulips
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  and Old Alabama Town, but now we're talking about Billie.
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  Billie is my dog. I adopted her like 3
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  years ago. I had seen her face on the website
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  of the Humane Society. I saw her listed to be euthanized,
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  and I said, well, that is not going to happen. So I went to
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  meet her, and I needed to fill out a form, and we walked to the
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  kennel. It was love at first sight. This one is coming
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  home with me. There was just something about her, you know. She was limping
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  a little bit, so I knew that she couldn't really walk,
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  but I could tell that she had a tough life. And the moment
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  that I took her home, we have been inseparable. How did
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  she show her gratitude? Just by laying there on the floor like she
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  does now, look at me, following with her eyes everywhere that I go.
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  What is Billie as far as breed? She is
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  75% Malinois. She has a little bit of Husky in
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  her, and she has a little bit of Labrador in her.
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  But she has the looks of a Malinois, although she is a little bit
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  smaller. She has that complaining, you know, that— what
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  the Malinois does. And she has that wagging of her tail that
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  Labradors always do, you know. Than the energy of the Malinois.
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  Jacob, you know that Belgian Malinois are used as
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  guide dogs. They're working dogs. Yeah, she needs to work.
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  When I realized that she couldn't really walk, she had back
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  leg surgeries, she had a hip surgery, and she went to
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  physiotherapy, and I went swimming with her in Lake Martin every other
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  day. And then I took her to a socializing training.
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  Then to an obedience training, and now she is
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  in that parkour training that they need to run
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  over beams and crawl through pipes and jump those cords.
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  And she came in first in November last year. I was so proud
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  of her. On October 4th, you know, you have World
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  Animal Day, and then she always gets a lot of treats, and I
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  put a ribbon on her, on her collar. So you've had Billie
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  how many years now? 3 years. You saved her life. She seems very
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  grateful. She is absolutely grateful. You see how
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  she sits there at my feet looking at me?
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  Does she feel like she has a job? She has absolutely a
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  job because she is the meet and greet in the museum in the living block.
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  But sometimes visitors say she is the best part of the museum.
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  She's the official greeter. Yes, she's the official greeter,
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  definitely. We are in Lucas Tavern. Lucas Tavern.
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  It is really important historically.
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  Yes. Well, Lucas Tavern was located on the Federal Road,
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  and the Federal Road was a Native American trade
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  route that replaced the Natchez Trace to get from Washington, D.C.
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  to New Orleans. And it saved travelers 8
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  days' worth of travel to get from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans.
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  It was primarily used for westward expansion of the United
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  States. South of that Federal Road line was Native American
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  territory, and north of that road was already Alabama
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  territory. The Federal Road was basically the frontier.
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  So describe where we're sitting. It's the oldest building
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  in Montgomery County, 1815. It is vernacular architecture,
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  so it's architecture that could be easily built from
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  locally sourced material. And locally sourced labor.
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  And back in that day, that often meant slave labor. The breezeway
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  is enclosed with 2 doors for the safety of the visitors
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  back in the day. If you open the doors, that functions as a breezeway.
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  In the hot Alabama summers, there is always a very
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  pleasant breeze running through. The name Lucas Tavern— was
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  this the family that ran the tavern? Yes, Walter and Eliza
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  Lucas. Were the sole proprietors of this tavern.
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  The Lucas Tavern is named after Lucas. Jacob, did Lafayette
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  stay at Lucas Tavern? Lafayette was a French general,
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  and he assisted the United States in the Revolutionary War.
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  He was very much interested how a self-governing country would develop,
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  and he was invited back to the United States as a
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  guest of the nation, and that was in 1825.
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  And on April 1825, he stayed in the tavern.
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  Last year, we had Dan Brown, a professor from the
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  university. He came here to do a Lafayette tour
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  with his students, and he had prepared an original
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  meal that Lafayette ate back in the day, and that was
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  served in the Yonge House. Do you remember what was on the menu? Chicken smothered
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  in a mustard sauce. Lafayette was like an adopted son
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  to George Washington. Correct. I think that his son was also
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  called George Washington. So when he came 50 years later,
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  he was an older man. He was an older man, and he did the whole
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  tour of the United States, all the places where he had been as a
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  soldier, to see how those parts of the United States had developed.
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  He met his Creek native friends from this area.
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  There were all kinds of parties all the way from Fort Toulouse
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  mobile. There were parties and celebrations
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  and barbecues. Did you hear that his parties
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  broke the Alabama treasury? Yes,
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  isn't that fun? Here we are in this historic structure
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  and you manage this living block. What is on it
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  for the visitors? So the living block tells the story
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  of central Alabama living, 19th century.
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  The start is in the tavern. The white building in the back is the Grange
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  Hall, very important organization back in the day because
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  it was the first agricultural corporation-like system
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  in the South and spread out throughout the United States.
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  Next that red building is the carriage house,
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  the doctor's office, and shotgun houses were built en masse
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  after emancipation. There was a big influx from
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  freed people to urban areas, and shotguns were those
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  typical structures that they would build for freed
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  people coming to urban areas. Next to that is the log cabin.
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  That's more the pioneer story of the living block.
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  The Casimir's Grocery Store, that was the first Greek immigrants
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  in Montgomery. Then we have the beautiful
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  colored Presbyterian Church. That has a lot of connection
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  with the civil rights movement and the construction of the I-85,
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  and of course the schoolhouse. Your accent— where are you
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  from? And we need to recognize your skill as a
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  horticulturist and flower show judge.
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  If people want to come and visit me and they need a good talk about
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  Alabama native plants, I am from Amsterdam,
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  but What I do here as a horticulturist is developing
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  or renewing the gardens. Restoration of the flower beds
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  with Alabama native species is sustainable
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  gardening. It needs less water in periods of
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  drought and can also handle serious rain.
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  It is sustainable gardening because you don't need insecticides
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  or pesticides to save them and make them grow. Plus they
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  attract exactly those insects that our birds like. We organize
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  a leisurely bird walk on the first Saturday of
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  the month, also through the flower beds. Give us the website.
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  Landmarksfoundation.com.
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  Landmarksfoundation.com. And the tab that you need
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  to take is program. Jacob, it has been a joy to visit
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  with you and Billy in person. At Historic Lucas
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  Tavern today. Thank you very much, Carolyn. I'm happy that
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  you're here. That was Jacob Van Meegen, living block manager
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  and horticulturist at Old Alabama Town,
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  where we met him and his dog Billy at Historic Lucas Tavern.
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  Landmarks Foundation operates the collection of 19th
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  and early 20th century structures in downtown Montgomery,
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  and more information can be found at the landmarksfoundation.com
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  website under Thanks
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  for joining us for In Focus, which is a podcast wherever
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  you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch at infocus@troy.edu.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported
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  Troy Public Radio.