DESCRIPTION OF WARD FIVE, UNION PARISH LOUISIANA

Submitted for the Union Parish Louisiana USGenWeb Archives by T. D. HUDSON, 5/2006



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DESCRIPTION OF WARD FIVE, UNION PARISH LOUISIANA
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Since the 1860s, Ward Five has included southern and southeastern Union Parish, including 
the old Town of Downsville and more modern Town of Point, areas easily accessed by 
travelling up Bayou D'Arbonne from Monroe. When this region was still in Ouachita Parish, 
it was known as the "Upper Pine Hills" community. It was the first area of Union Parish 
to be settled by Europeans, with John Honeycutt, Sr. arriving with his family by 1795. 
Settlement along Bayou D'Arbonne increased considerably in the latter 1810s and 1820s, 
so that when the new parish was created in 1839, the population center was between 
Bayou D'Arbonne and what is now Downsville. As the Parish Seat of Farmerville grew in 
the 1840s and 1850s, the population center leveled out, with the bulk of the citizens 
living in the rural region surrouding Farmerville. 

Southern Boundary of Ward Five:
   ++ Ouachita Parish line

Northern Boundary of Ward Five: 
   ++ Bayou D'Arbonne (since its creation in the 1960s, part of the boundary is now 
      Lake D'Arbonne)


Eastern Boundary of Ward Five:
   ++ 1860s - 1880s: The eastern boundary during this period is somewhat unclear to me, 
                     but I think it extended eastward to Bayou D'Loutre, meaning that 
                     Wards Five and Two adjoined along the Loutre in those years. 

   ++ 1880s - present: In the latter 1870s or early 1880s, the police jury created Wards 
                       Seven, Eight, and Nine in order to reduce the size of Wards Five 
                       and Two. Since then, the eastern boundary of Ward Five has been 
                       Bayou D'Arbonne. 


Western Boundary of Ward Five:
   ++ The western boundary of Ward Five is confusing due to the region lost to Lincoln 
      Parish in 1873 and the boundaries of old Ward Nine. Prior to the creation of 
      Lincoln Parish in 1873, Ward Five included additional areas along modern Highway 33 
      that runs from Farmerville to Ruston, including the Mineral Springs community. It 
      appears that Ward Five originally ran from Bayou D'Loutre all the way to the Middle 
      Fork of Bayou D'Arbonne west of Farmerville, a very large region. When originally 
      created in the latter 1870s or early 1880s, Ward Nine began at Bayou D'Arbonne west 
      of Farmerville and extended due south to the Lincoln Parish line, including the 
      settlement of D'Arbonne. This relatively small area basically made the western 
      boundary of Ward Five an imaginary line extending due south from the west side of 
      Farmerville to Downsville. 

   ++ In the mid-1900s, the police jury abolished Ward Ten around Junction City, divided 
      the old Ward Nine area between Wards Four and Five, and moved Ward Nine to northwestern 
      Union Parish between Bernice and Junction City. With this change, Ward Five runs 
      from the Highway 33 on the south side of Lake D'Arbonne to the Lincoln Parish line, 
      then eastward to Bayou D'Arbonne. 


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Sources: 
    Union Parish Police Jury Records
    Union Parish Federal Censuses and Enumerator's Explanations


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