Clio, Livingston Parish, Louisiana
File prepared by D.N. Pardue
Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives



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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.

CLIO  A very small rural community situated along the east bank of the

Amite River, Clio is in T8S-R6E of the old Tenth Ward and was named for

the classical muse of history about 1830, a time when such classical naming

was a popular vogue. (1)

     Downriver about 2 1/2 miles lies Carthage Bluff Landing, once a plan-

tation site on the east bank, but now only a small rural community.  Six 

miles downriver from Clio, the Amite empties into Lake Maurepas.  About 2 1/2

miles upriver on the west bank lies Magnolia Landing.

     Clio is only 10 feet above sea level, and is surrounded on three sides by

swamps and on the west by the river.

     It has been said that Clio was the site of the Waterson's plantation, which

had its own sawmill, sugar mill, a warehouse on the Amite, and possibly a

commissary.

     Another family of prominence and wealth which followed the Watersons was

the Massie family, who built a fine, two-story home on the river where they

presided over their plantation.

     Mrs. Cyrus Tucker (the former Winnie Smiley) gave a brief description of

Clio, as she remembered it in 1885, in a 1962 Denham Springs News article.  She

remembered that "there were two sawmills near the river."

     "Schooners used to come up the river to carry the lumber to New Orleans.  

Large wharves lined the river bank.  The Tucker and Smiley families lived nearby

and other residents were the Sharps, Kimbles, Davidsons, Weidermans, Glovers

and others."

     Interivews suggest two schools were located near Clio, one on the Bull Run

Road which may prove to be older than the other, the Carthage School.  The latter's

establishment date has been put as early as 1901.  The land was donated by Bill

Rownd.

     C.D. Moore operated an early store in Clio, but later sold it to Charlie Murray.

Newspaper advertisements show the latter was in business by 1907.  Later the 

Weidermans bought the land and store and ran it for a while.

     Sawmills were a major part of Clio since its establishment, with the Waterson

and the Massie mills being the earliest.  Another mill was located on the Bull Run

Road, which belonged to the Tucker and Smiley families.  In the early 1900's the

Mitchells had a mill on Bull Run Road, but all that remains now are a few piles of

sawdust to mark these sites. (2)

     In 1962, Clio had the distinction of having one of its laurel oaks declared a 

state champion tree.  Recently a new bridge was constructed over the Amite River and

the old wooden, one-lane bridge was dismantled. -- Aubra Fontenot and Calvin C. Fayard

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(1) "Livingston Parish Place Names." master's thesis by Kathy Kendall, University of
New Orleans.
(2) Interviews by Aubra Fontenot and Calvin C. Fayard Sr. with Mrs. Rose Glover Meissner
(82 years old), I.W. Sharp (89), Fred Anderson (75), Bert Davidson (79), "Grandma"
Ryan, (83), and James Harvey Sharp II.

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