Submitted by Mary Davis-Odom ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ The information below was taken from the book "Encyclopedia of Union Parish" written by Eugene C. Love. Mr. Love was from the Linville area and now lives in Winnfield, La. We can thank him for giving his permission to put this information on the Union Parish website. UNION PARISH ROAD in 1839 Only a few roads traversed Union Parish when it was established in 1839. Two major roads crossed Union Parish going south to north and northwest. Both road were referred to as the "Arkansas Road." No reference has been found to other names. The one on the East side of the parish originated in Monroe, crossed the Ouachita River at Ouachita City, went north through Spencer, Linville, Marion, Union Cross Roads, Hillsboro, Arkansas and to El Dorado, Arkansas. The road forked near Feazle's Farm with the west branch going near Shiloh, Lowery's Crossing to Warsaw in Claiborne Parish, to Scottsville, and to Three Creeks, Arkansas. Those traveling from the Southwest to northeast found a road going from Downsville to Feazle to the Darbonne Bayou crossing at the intersection of Bayou Corney to Farmerville to Union Cross Roads near the Arkansas line. A road from Shiloh to the Farmerville area had been cut or worn out by travelers going to the Shiloh area to settle on the farm lands near Bayou Corney. A road on the east side of the parish had been established by travelers departing their boats at Alabama Landing, going north to Marion and to the cross road junction at Union Cross Roads (now Oakland) near the Arkansas line. Cross Roads had developed as a center for travelers going west, north or south. The town had several stores, a church and a Masonic lodge. ROAD CONSTRUCTION The first two public roads constructed in Union Parish were authorized by the Police Jury. 1. Road from Horse Creek to Farmerville. 2. Construct road from Bayou Bartholomew (Ouachita City) across the DeLoutre to Farmerville. BRIDGES The Union Parish Police Jury in the 1840's had to lay out roads where needed, determine the road - class l, 2, or 3, appoint a citizen to supervise the maintenance of the road, contract with ferries to transport wagons, buggies, carts, livestock and people across large streams and build bridges across creeks and small streams. The first bridge contracts were: l. Robert Cook to construct a bridge across Baoyou Choudrant. 2. Matthew Wood to construct a bridge across Bayou DeLoutre. ROADS Roads in early Union Parish were improved Indian trails. The Police Jury in 1849 employed Charlie Abscent and some other men living near the Alabama Landing, to cut a road from the county seat, Farmerville, to the large river port at Alabama Landing. The road today would be the Ward Chapel Road to near Antioch Church, across the DeLoutre at Ned Lee's crossing, to Liberty Baptist Church and east to intersect the Arkansas Road east of the church, to the Will Beasley farm, to the Ben Robinson place, to the four mile post -- thence to Alabama Landing. The road crossed the Arkansas Road at the original Linville Trading Post, where the Newt Matthew's farm was located in 1890. Liberty Baptist Church was located one quarter mile off the original road. The church secured land on the road in 1851 and built a new church building on the road. CONSTRUCTING AND MONITORING ROADS AND BRIDGES The Union Parish Police Jury members were not concerned with graveling roads, blacktopping roads, granting permits for electric lines, water lines, telephone or gas lines along parish roads, nor installing metal or concrete culverts under the local roads. NONE of these were in existence in Union Parish in 1900. In 1900 Union Parish Police Jury members tried to cut and maintain roads that wagons, buggies, and those on horseback could travel. Each road had a designated overseer. The people of the community were compelled by law to work on the road and furnish their own working tools. The Jury tried to maintain the bridges, take care of the paupers (welfare), bury the dead, provide and maintain a courthouse, provide for public schools and serve as the governing body of the parish. The Police Jury set the ferry rates for crossing the rivers and bayous. Louisiana began to show interest in a state wide highway system in 1911. The roads connecting the larger towns were constructed and maintained by the Police Jury and were often in a deplorable condition. A few automobiles were showing up around the state. TOWNS in UNION PARISH Ouachita City located on the Ouachita River across from Bayou Bartholomew is the oldest town in Union Parish. A port was established at this site in 1780. The port grew to be the second largest inland port in the state. The town served as a center of transportation on the river and the east-west traffic on land. The writer remembers the thrill of crossing the river on a ferry boat in the 1920's en route to Monroe. The charge was five cents per person and twenty-five cents per vehicle. The second oldest community that history records, was Lower Pines (Point) and the Upper Pines that was the site selected for the "seat of justice" in 1839. A large community developed near the Alabama Landing area, but it was in 1832 before an official name was given to the town, Marion. Many of the residents came from Marion, Alabama. Several men that played a part in the history of the area were: Dr. Sam Larkins, Col. John Hill, James Powell, Dr. John Taylor, Sam Taylor and Rev. Elias George, a Baptist minister. He served as pastor of Liberty Baptist Church for many years. The church served the Marion, Alabama Landing, Ouachita City, Linville and Spencer area in the 1830's and 1840's. At one time, Union Parish had more than sixty post offices. From 1839 to 1910, many new towns were formed and several began to disappear. Many factors have influenced the organization of a new town or the abandonment of an old town. When Union Parish was organized in 1839, people traveled north and south over two roads called the Arkansas Roads. One road was east of Bayou DeLoutre; it entered the parish at Ouachita City, traveled to Linville, to Marion, to Union Cross Roads and to El Dorado, Arkansas. The Arkansas Road in west Union Parish entered at Trenton (West Monroe) to Lower Pines, to Downsville, to Vienna, to Claiborne Parish and to Arkansas. The east-west road in Union Parish was in the north part of the parish. The road started at Alabama Landing, to Marion, to Union Cross Roads, to Conway, to Farmerville, to Shiloh and Claiborne Parish. In 1810, Methodist circuit riders followed an Indian trail (road) along the west of D'Arbonne Bayou, above the flood plain, going from the Lower Pines (Point area) to Upper Pines (fork of Corney & D'Arbonne Bayous). Today state highway 15 follows part of the old road. The Indian road connected several Indian villages along the bayou and was a route followed to the Arkansas mountains to obtain flint rocks to make arrow heads, hatchets, spears and axes. The east-west road in the southern part of the parish did not exist until the 1840s when the police jury had a road cut from Farmerville to Ouachita City, and thence west to Claiborne Parish. Early towns were formed near river ports. By 1850, many farmers moved to the best farming areas. The yellow fever outbreaks caused many to move out of the wet lands to the higher elevations. When the railroads came to Union Parish in 1900, several new towns were formed and others abandoned. # # #