Much of Old La Grange Auction Barn Demolished

Folks heading west on Business 71 in La Grange may have noticed the demolition work at the old La Grange Auction Barn. Today the property serves as holding pens for the Flatonia Livestock Commission.

Owner Ronnie Beck said he’s cleaning up the property, and the holding pens will remain.

“We’re not closing it down,” Beck said. “We’re going to continue to receive cattle there for the Flatonia Livestock Commission like we always have.”

Beck said workers are tearing down an old shed on the property. In addition, they’ll extend a roof to cover the loading chute.

“We’re just taking some of the old stuff down to make it look nice and neat,” Beck said.

The recent activity jogged a few memories of the old auction barn in La Grange, which had its sale day on Fridays. Leroy Florus, Donald Florus, and Billy Joe Simons owned the La Grange Auction Barn before Beck purchased it in the early 1990s.

Beck operated the La Grange Livestock Auction for a short period of time before consolidating operations at the Flatonia Livestock Commission, which has its sale on Mondays. Beck said he closed the La Grange Livestock Auction around 1992.

“It was a problem for me owning both of them, because I had customers coming to me saying, ‘Ronnie, where should I sell my cattle?’” Beck said. “I had more buyers in Flatonia than I did in La Grange. So I truthfully told them, ‘If I was selling, I would bring them to Flatonia.’ So then I said ‘I’ll make it convenient for y’all. I’ll put a holding pen there and receive them on Sunday and Monday morning and transport them to Flatonia.’” Beck said the cleanup work should be complete in a couple of weeks.