DESCRIPTION OF WARD SEVEN, UNION PARISH LOUISIANA

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



************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
************************************************
 



=================================================================================
DESCRIPTION OF WARD SEVEN, UNION PARISH LOUISIANA
==================================================================================

Although originally there were a total of seven wards, when the ward lines were 
redrawn by the police jury in the 1860s, they decided to use only six wards. Due 
to population increase in the eastern portion of the parish, in the latter 1870s or 
very early 1880s, the police jury divided Wards Two and Five by creating Wards Seven 
and Eight. 

Original Boundary of Ward Seven, 1870s/1880s - mid 1900s:
   ++ Extended eastward from Farmerville along the Ward's Chapel Road on to 
      Bayou D'Loutre, then ran along the Loutre to its mouth at the Ouachita River, 
      then along the southern boundary of Union Parish to Bayou D'Arbonne, then up the 
      D'Arbonne back towards the beginning. In other words, Ward Seven included the 
      swath of land extending from the Ward's Chapel Road to the southeastern border 
      of Union Parish between Bayous D'Loutre and D'Arbonne.

Western Boundary of Ward Seven:
   ++ eastern boundary of Ward One; as the population of Farmerville increased in the 
      1900s, the size of Ward One has shrunk; thus, the western boundary of Ward Seven 
      is now much closer to Farmerville than it originally was. 

Modern Boundary of Ward Seven, mid-1900s - present: 
   ++ Sometime in the mid-1900s, as the population of the Ward's Chapel community increased, 
      the police jury considerably reduced the size of Ward Seven. While it extended to the 
      Ouachita River between about 1880 to the 1930s, afterwards the police jury reduced Ward 
      Seven to include only the Ward's Chapel Road region. At this time, they extended Ward 
      Eight southward to Bayou D'Arbonne, to include Port Union, the Rocky Branch community, 
      etc. 
 

The only settlement of any size ever in Ward Seven was Port Union at the mouth of the 
Loutre on the Ouachita River. Other post offices in Ward Seven include Colson's 
(1887 - 1931) [near Rocky Branch], Hobson (1901 - 1910), Decatur (1904 - 1908), and 
Bunkerhill (1905 - 1911). 

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


###########################################################