Doyle, Livingston Parish, Louisiana File prepared by D.N. Pardue Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ********************************************** 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. DOYLE, a former post office and town on the Baton Rouge, Hammond and Eastern Railroad was incorporated with the town of Livingston on Nov. 4, 1955, and now the name remains only for two schools and two churches. A Doyle railroad station closed several years ago. Doyle Post Office, established on June 11, 1900 with Matthew Mizell as the first postmaster, was first located in Section 15, T6S-R5E, north- west of the present Doyle community. (1) Members of Mizell's family explain that the name was chosen because the postmaster did no have to lift his pen to write or cross a "t." Both his daughter, Mrs. Edna Mizell Satamore, and his nephew, A. Kizer Mizell, have confirmed this story. (2) Gee N. Drumwright was the second postmaster and Powhattan E. Causey was the third before the post office was discontinued on Oct. 15, 1907. A site location report dated Sept. 26, 1906, indicates the Doyle Post Office was located in the northeast quarter of Section 21, T6S-R5E, just east of Hog Branch Bridge. When the post office ws re-established on July 6, 1908 with Sylvester S. McDonald as postmaster, it was located in the northest quarter of Sec- tion 30, T6S-R5E. This location, of course, is in the present town of Livingston and is the area which was known as Doyle. (3) The post office was moved to its third location because the railroad had just been completed, and postal authorities were determined to furnish mail service via the route. (4) The railroad not only influenced the establishment of post offices, but sawmills as well. One lumberman attracted to the area was Daniel Jackson (Jack) Hall. According to his widow, Mr. Hall came to Doyle to look at the timber which had been blown down by a hurricane. A small mill was already in existence, and in 1910 the owner sold out to Hall, who operated it in conjunction with a planer mill. Mrs. Hall provided a picture of the mill to Bicentennial Committee researchers. Livingston, the adjecent town, was laid out later by the Lyon Cypress Lumber Co. as a terminal for their railroad and logging operations. After Livingston became the parish seat, it gradually stripped Doyle of its position as a separate entity. When the area was incorporated, the town took the name Livingston, and the Livingston Post Office continued operation when the Doyle office closed in 1954. However, the name Doyle is likely to survive because of the schools and churches. --- Clark Forrest, Jr. ---------------- (1) "Postal Records" in Record Group 28, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (2) Telephone interviews by Clark Forrest, Jr., with Mr. A. Kizer Mizell, Rt. 2, Box 200, Bogaulsa; and Mrs. Edna Mizell Satamore, 8000 Oak Street, New Orleans, on January 15, 1973. (3) See note 1. (4) Newspaper article, "Postal Arrangement," Daily Picayune, Feb. 9, 1908. * * *