Echoes From The Attic and Poems, SPRINGFIELD, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Don Johnson, Jan. 2001
Typed by Belford Carver
Written by by Edna F. Campbell
Copyrighted by Edna F. Campbell
With special thanks to her family for permission to use her works.

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SPRINGFIELD, A WATERFRONT TOWN CLAIMS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Springfield was one of the well-known communities in the coastal area of the state 
of Louisiana when the original town survey was made sometime before 1801.  It 
served for over one hundred years as an important trading center.

The waterfront settlement came into being during the early 1720s, during the first 
period of Colonial transfer to the interior, from Biloxi, Miss.  The high and well-
drained bluff provided an ideal location for bargaining, establishing it as a trading 
post of note between Baton rouge and New Orleans.

The wooded grounds were easily accessible for timber for use in building ship masts.
Rosin and tar were products obtained from the surrounding forests.  In the early era 
warehouses lined the waterbanks, also there was a large lumber mill industry.

The town had cultural influence at this time, as an educational academy was an 
added asset to the area.  At its peak the town boasted a population of over 2,000 
persons.

When the Illinois Central Railroad was built to New Orleans, the town of Springfield 
was bypassed, and after the Civil War years, the town began to go downhill, with the 
shipping interests decreasing and impetus lost in all phases.

The first official records in the parish date back to 1813 when the prime courthouse 
was officially presided over by Judge Shepherd Brown of Springfield.  Among the 
early pioneer settlers was Alexander Bookter, and for whom the place was first 
named.  It was called Bookterís Landing, and later changed to Springfield because of 
the numerous flowing springs.

Standing as a stern monumental mark of time and historical emphasis is a tall brick 
structure, a landmark of the early 1800s.  Constructed along austere designing, the 
building first served as a bank for Springfield, and later was used as a courthouse.  
This was before the courthouse was moved to another town.  The building is in use as
a residence now.  At one time it was a general store building, owned by John Settoon.

The town was incorporated in 1938, with mayor and other officials elected to serve.
Among the prominently known names recorded were those of Judge Alexander 
Kinchen, grandfather of the mayor of 1967, Harold Abels, and W. Schofield Rownd, a 
judge and the John Settoons.  In 1959 the town had a revival prompted by good 
highway systems and local industry.  Springfield again became an incorporated town 
and elected city officials.

The town has done much to update the surroundings, with public utilities, school 
buildings and modern housing.  The town boasts of three churches, the St. Thomas 
Catholic, Methodist and First Baptist.  The population is on the upward trend.

(From ECHOES FROM THE ATTIC, III, 1968, by Edna Campbell)