Maurepas Island, Livingston, once Ascension Parish, Louisiana File prepared by D.N. Pardue ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ From the book entitled "The Free State - A History and Place-Names Study of Livingston Parish" by the members of the Livingston Parish American Revolution Bicentennial Committee in cooperation with the Livingston Parish Police Jury and the Louisiana American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1976. Reprinted by permission. Dedicated to the memory of Reuben Cooper and Raymond Riggs. MAUREPAS ISLAND, surrounded by Lake Maurepas, the Amite River, Bayou Pierre, the Petite Amite, and Blind RIver, was transferred from Ascension to Livingston Parish by Act 95 of the 1850 Legislature. It includes the communitites of Maurepas, Whitehall, Bear Island and Head of Island that were settled by French Spanish and German immigrants. Iberville gave the lake its name in 1699 while exploring an alternate route from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Jerome Maurepas, also called Pontchartrain, was the son of the French Minister of Marine and Colonies, Count Pontchartrain. Among the three ethnic groups, the French influence has been strongest. Many persons who bear German or Spanish names call themselves French. The only post office in existence on the island today is the first one established, the Maurepas office. It was put in operatio on June 9, 1875 on the right side of the Amite River at Catfish Landing with John H. Ellis as postmaster. It has only been discontinued once (for a period of a month in 1877) since it was established. Besides the Maurepas Post Office, the island has had post offices at Bourgeois Landing, Whitehall, Denson (Bear Island) and Head of Island. The first of these post offices was at Bourgeois Landing, located in Whitehall, on the Amite River. The post office was established by John A. Porter on September 22, 1875, but was discontinued on April 11, 1878. The Whitehall Post Office was begun by John A. Porter on July 25, 1878, and was discontinued on April 30, 1954. Callie Denson Moore established the first post office in Denson, or what is more commonly known as Bear Island. Moore was appointed postmaster on June 8, 1903. The office was discontinued on April 30, 1914, but J.A. Bencaz re-established it for a year, June 21, 1915 to August 15, 1916. When it closed, the mail was transferred to Maurepas. The first post office in Head of Island was established by John Houghayon on July 25, 1878 where the Amite River and Old River meet. When Sallie Ann Pyburn took the job, the post office was moved to the store building where Hwy. 22 leaves the Amite River at Head of Island and it remained at this site until the post office was discontinued in 1954. Maurepas High School's origin was in classes taught by Jeremiah Palmer in a church building during the 1850's. The building is said to have been des- troyed in an 1862 forest fire, but a one-room school was erected in 1866 near Catfish Landing and classes were taught by B.K. Benefield. In 1886, the Grange farming association put up a building for their own use, but attendance at the public school had increased and the Grange two-room building was pressed into service for classes. In 1890, one acre of land near the present-day American Legion hall was purchased from B.B. Cleneay and a larger two-room school building was erected on it. In 1912, a $4,000 two- story building, consolidating Maurepas, Bear Island and Whitehall schools, was built on a six-acre lot purchased from Carlie Bastist in Section 1, T9S-R5E. The first year of the new school there were no graduates, but the next year Francis Langdon became the first graduate. In 1935, a new $32,000 stucco building, consisting of 16 classrooms was built. The construction was said to have been the first for which the Recon- struction Finance Corporation bought bonds. With a WPA grant, the grounds were landscaped and new water wells were dug. In 1936 there were approximately 485 students attending the school. The first school board member to serve the Maurepas area was William Tschirn, who served from 1908 to 1914. Following him were Bert E. Langdon, Sr., 1914-20; Ernest Stephens, 1920-26; B.E. Lagdon, II, 1926-54; Verdun Richard, 1954-56; Herman Berthelot, 1956-62; and Bert E. Langdon, III, 1962-66. Lloyd Patterson, who was elected in 1966, is currently serving as the school board member for the Maurepas area, although due to reapportionment, Carew P. Foster os Springfield technically represents the area also. Early settlers of Maurepas Island were trappers, fishermen and farmers, but the timber industry was important after water transportation improved. About 1915, the Lyon Lumber Co. built the only railroad through the island in order to transport timber from Livingston Parish to its mill in Garyville. The company also cut much of the cypress timber in the Maurepas Island area. Discovered via the rivers, the island's highways were the lakes and streams until the 20th Century emphasis on the automobile brought about an expanded and improved system of roads. ---------------- Edited from article submitted by Lisa Delatte, Roxanne Dupuy, Davis Hoover, Hazel Gregoire, Billie Loupe, and Geralding Norman. * * * * *