Bossier Parish, La Towns submitted by: Kay McMahan ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** This article was printed in the Genie in 1990. Transcribed by Kay McMahan "The Towns In Bossier Parish Were Named By Early Settlers" Bossier Parish was created February 24, 1843 out of a part of Claiborne Parish, itself created in 1828. Carved out of the Great Natchitoches District with Caiborne. Bossier's boundaries extended from the Red River on the west to the Dorcheat on the east. It was named for Pierre Everiste Bossier, descendant of an early settler and a member of Congress when the Parish was formed. The newspaper "The Free State Of Bossier", issued at Benton, Louisiana September 27, 1900 (Volume 1, Number 1, Page 2) then listed Post Offices in Bossier as: Ashpoint, Allentown, Antrim, Ansel, Alden Bridge, Atkins, Arkana, Benton, Brownlee, Bossier City, Bellevue, Bodcau, Bolinger, Bluffs, Buckhouse, Carterville, Curtis, Durr, Emma, Ellison, Hughes Spur, Haughton, Ivan, Koran, Linton, Loris, Midway, Mott, Plain Dealing, Roberta, Taylortown, & Vanceville. Early in the nineteenth century the first settlers came in from the eastern states. The Bossier area contained only a few hundred settlers until 1804. From 1804 to 1850 the population increased from a few hundred to 2, 507 whites and the slave population for the same period increased from zero to 4, 457. In 1900, there was an immense sawmill plant located at Allentown. The Allen brothers and Wadley being the proprietors of this town about three miles northeast of Haughton. Antrim was another saw mill town and was located on the Cotton Belt Railroad about three miles south of Plain Dealing. About forty miles north of Shreveport on the Cotton Belt Railroad and on the Louisiana and Arkansas line was Arkana with several stores, a saw mill, church and a post office. Atkins was a station on the Red River Valley Railroad and was situated in south Bossier about twenty miles south of Shreveport. J.W. Atkins owned a saw mill there. Brownlee wa a flag station on the Cotton Belt Railroad about five miles out of Shreveport. Mr. W. Boney had a general merchandise business there. Brownlee Road and Brownlee Estates can be found on a modern map just north of Bossier City. Bodcau was a station on the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad with one store. The old town of Bolinger, now abandoned, was named for the late S.R. Bolnger who operated a large sawmill there Bellevue was first named Freedonia when the Parish was organized in 1843. The name lasted, however, but a month, when it was changed to Society Hill. This name also lasted one month before it was changed to Bellevue by the Police Jury. Collingsburg, another old town, was reduced to one store and a Post Office with the coming of the Cotton Belt Railroad. This community was situated in a well timbered area three miles northeast of Plain Dealing. Orginally named for Eli Vance Collins who married Mariah Cavett in 1849, Collinsburg was orginally known as Pineville. Mr. A. Curtis had a general merchandise business on a small station of the Shreveport and Red River Valley Rairoad south of what is now Bossier City. One of the schools in Bossier Parish is now known as Curtis Elementry. One mile south of Alden Bridge on the Cotton Belt Railroad in north Bossier Parish was Hughes Spur, named for Clark Hughes, speaker of the Louisiana House. Fourteen miles south of Shreveport on the Red River Valley Railroad was the town of Taylortown, identified in 1900 as a "growing community". It then had a store, a doctor's office, several dwellings, a big gin and grist mill as well as the station. Vanceville, a station on the Cotton Belt Railroad, half way between Benton and Shreveport, was named for the Vance family who came from South Carolina and lived on a Plantation named Palmento, now the site of the Palmento Country Club. Most historians credit Fillmore with being the oldest settlement in Bossier Parish. It was named for U.S. President, Milliard Fillmore. Redland (formerly Red Land) was named because of the red soil of that region. Carterville got its name from an early resident by that name. Sligo is located on the old Sligo Plantation and is named for the county in Ireland from whence came early settlers of the area. Pleasant Hill was chosen by early settlers as a nice name for their pleasant community. Midway was named because it was midway between Bellevue and Benton. Princeton derived its name from Joseph Wilson Prince. It was first suggested to call it Princeville, but the name of Princeton was prefered. Oak Hill, in the northwest corner of the Parish, was named because of the oaks that dot the hills of the region. There was once a post offie at a place called Plainville, which was located just east of Plain Dealing. There was once a post office at Mott, supposedly named for an old cow that had that name. The cow, was grazing nearby when the citizens met to name the place. The village of Alden Bridge north of Benton was established by the Alden family, descendants of the Mayflowe's John and Priscilla Alden. Isaac Alden Jr. a son of Isaac Alden of Oneida County, New York, had come to Louisiana in the early 1800's. About 1832, his brother Philo Alden came to Claiborne Parish, La. which Parish he served as deputy sheriff. Philo's son, George Alden, was later to write. "In 1843 father removed to Bossier Parish to a place on or near the Red River, about 25 miles above Shreveport, which town was then only a small steam-boat landing. Father built a saw-mill on Cypress Creek, so called because of the enormous growth of cypress timber there. We ran the mill night and day, and could cut about 2,000 feet of lumber in 24 hours." Philo Alden served Bossier Parish as Sheriff. In 1900, according to The Free State Of Bossier, Whited and Wheless, manufacturers of lumber and general dealers in merchandise, were the principal owners. Benton was named in honor of Thomas H. Benton, United States Senator from Missouri, who was a champion in Congress for the development of the west by building of roads west of the Mississippi. He was the prime mover for the building of the road from Arkansas into Shreveport via Lewisville, Plain Dealing and Benton. This road was construced in the 1820's and was a stagecoach line for many years. Benton was a protege of Andrew Jackson, who was an orator and leader in Congress for 30 years. Heifner was named for the Heifner family, who were early settlers of that region.It is sometimes called Alabama Settlement because the early settlers came from Alabama. The Shrevepot Times of August 26, 1884 carried the following announcement: "On and after September 1st., Lawrence Station on the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad will be known as Haughton. Captain Dabney, superintendent, has established a flag station a half mile west of the draw bridge known as Dorcheat. This is done for the benefit of fishing and hunting parties. Flag station wll be known as "Dorcheat". Fourteen miles east of Shreveport, Bellevue was ten miles to the north ad Koran ten miles south. Plain Dealing was named after the Plain Dealing Plantation operated prior to the Civil War by George Oglethrope Gilmer. The town is located on part of that old Plantation, but did ot come into being until the coming of the Cotton Belt Railroad in 1888. Rocky Mount was first called Keyserville for two men who put up a store at that spot. After their deaths, the store and land was sold to Noah Phillips, who built a house across the road which was afterwards occupied by J.H. Hughes. Mr. Phillips changed the name to Rocky Mount because of its situation. The first of the settlers in Rocky Mount was William Young, who built some cabins on the branch north of the present town, the next year putting up a log house on the hill. Bossier City was first known as Cane's Landing in pre-Civil War days. Two men, William Smith Bennett and James Huntington Cane, came up the Red Riverr and opened a trading post overlooking the river called Cane's Bennett Bluff, it was later to be known as Shreve Town. Cane got a patent on some land on the other side of the river and established a Plantation known as Elysian Grove, made up of 600 acres. The family operated a store near the ferry landing on the Bossier side of the river. Then known as Cane City, the area began to really develope around 1884. A small village was laid out, which was incorporated in 1907 as Bossier City. It was proclaimed a city in the 1950's by Governor Earl Long.