1948 History of Winnfield, Winn Parish, LA Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** From the November 5, 1948 Winnfield News-American Story of Winnfield From Civil War Days To Present Day Related by News Service (Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles prepared by the Central News Service on cities and towns in Central Louisiana. The progress of Central Louisiana has been gauged by the growth of the cities and towns which make up the Central Louisiana Association.) Winnfield, the seat of Winn Parish, has contributed to the richness which has enabled Central Louisiana to contribute its part to the wealth of the nation's Pelican State, Louisiana. Winnfield lies in the red clay hills of North-Central Louisiana in a region of longleaf pine forests. These forests have made Winn Parish an outstanding timberland. The endless salt supply surrounding Winnfield has made the city a leader in salt production since the Civil War days when the old salt kettles at Big Cedar furnished salt for the Confederate army by use of slave labor (the major Civil War era source of salt in this area was the Salt Works located on Saline Bayou in extreme northwest Winn Parish.) Today, a Carey salt mine with 840 feet depth is located near Winnfield. The rock quarry is a third source of income to the enterprising city. General farming ranks fourth in nonagricultural industries in Winnfield. Cotton is the principal crop. A tour of Winnfield would take a visitor to the courthouse square around which the town has been built. Wide paved streets lined with stately trees branch in every direction from the square. Inside the courthouse, where the city's official offices are located, may be heard the story of Winnfield's first courthouse which was a log building located eight miles south of the present site in 1855 (it is believed that this reference is made toward the first court session which was supposedly held at John Albright's saloon at Allbright's Prairie, approximately ten miles south of Winnfield. The first courthouse in Winnfield was also a log cabin/house believed to be the residence of long time Winn Parish Clerk of Court, R. C. Jones). It was not until 1860 that the courthouse was moved to Winnfield, about five blocks from the present courthouse (I have been told since old enough to remember that the first courthouse in Winnfield was across Jones Street from the present day courthouse, which is the block that all courthouses since the log courthouse. This location was about where the A. & P. Store was located until the 1970s, and south across Main Street from the current location of Bank of Winnfield.) Any old-timer on the courthouse lawn could relate the story of the courthouse when it was incorporated in the home of Robert Cassidy Jones and his bride, Mary Susan Crockett, on the east side of Jones Street. For evidence of the story, the house, with one wing designated as a monument to pioneers of Winn Parish, still stands. (Sadly, this is no longer true, as this building was moved south on Jones Street, just south of the old Winnfield High School football field, currently the site of several little league baseball fields.) A two-story frame building was constructed in 1875 on the present site of the courthouse and stood for 11 years. It was destroyed by fire in 1886 and in 1892 a two story brick structure was built. A second fire destroyed that building in 1917. The present building was erected in 1921. (Whoever the author of this article was failed here to note that the Winn Parish Courthouse was torched around 1869 by the West-Kimbrell Clan, supposedly at the request of Dr. David Boullt of St. Maurice, as Boullt was trying to stop a sheriff's sale of property. Another legend is that the gang burned the courthouse to destroy records of indictment against some of the members. The story concerning Boullt's involvement is mentioned in records of Congressional hearings, and was based partially on the discovery that Boullt held in his possession court documents that would have been burned up in the fire. All records were lost in the fires of 1868 and 1886. Most records in the 1917 fire were saved.) At 1107 Maple Street is the site of Huey P. and Earl K. Long's birthplace. (Controversy exists as to whether or not Huey was born here. Longtime Winn resident J. H. "Blackie" Jourdan, who died at age 105 in 1997, argued that Huey, Jr., was actually born at Tunica, close to the current day Corinth Community, about six miles south of Winnfield. Others around Winnfield say the same thing, but I certainly don't know.) It was a simple log cabin which grew into a two story home as the Long family increased. In 1930 the house was destroyed by fire, but the towering oaks remain as a monument to the illustrious Long family. Traveling along Winnfield's streets, a visitor may note the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Catholic churches. The unfinished church structure is being built by the Methodists at an estimated cost of $ 125,000. Also under construction are buildings to house the Winn Motor Company, $ 100,000; Building by Milam's, $ 150,000; Brooks Motor Company, $ 75,000. A proposed national guard armory will cost $ 50,000. An elementary school, high school, and trade school have been built to educate the young people from Winnfield and surrounding rural areas. Dr. John T. Mosley is completing a new hospital where the medical needs of residents may be better served and where young nurses may be trained in their field. Two newspapers, The Winn Parish Enterprise published by George Larson and The Winnfield News-American published by Dennis Shell, present the news to the city's residents. Four railroads, Louisiana and Arkansas, Rock Island, Tremont and Gulf, and Louisiana Midland, provide passenger service and freight routes to all parts of the state and nation. Tremont Lumber Company is building a saw mill said to be one of the world's most modern. A new settlement known as New Joyce is being constructed outside the environs of Winnfield. Mansfield Lumber Company and Thomas Lumber Company have mills located in Winnfield. American Creosote Works and Louisville Cooperage Company also have plants in the city. An oil well was drilled recently eight miles from the city limits, and some geologists think it marks the opening of a rich new field. Two main highways branch through Winnfield to all sections of Louisiana. P. K. Abel who lives at 701 East Main Street, is the city's oldest citizen. He is 81 years old. Mr. Abel is active in title abstracting and spends many hours daily relating tales of the old days to the younger generation. He tells the history of the courthouse and of the days when Sanford Gorham built a paddle wheel known as the "Alligator" and transported salt down the Dugdemonia Creek to the Little River, on to Red River and to Confederate troops. He recalls the days when Winnfield boys swam in the old salt hole in the early 1900s. He also quotes the population of Winnfield which has increased from 3,821 in 1940 to 7,500 today within the city limits. Winnfield was unsettled and almost unvisited before 1840. In 1852 when land along the state's rivers became scarce, Winn Parish was carved from a portion of Natchitoches, and named in honor of Walter O. Winn, Alexandria attorney. These and other stories are told by Mr. Abel. (Winn was also carved from a portion of Catahoula and Rapides Parishes. It is believed that Mr. Winn was instrumental in handling legislation which created Winn, at the request of surveyor Dennis Mackie.) In the future for Winnfield is a dream shared by townspeople and the Chamber of Commerce headed by John W. McCloy. His hope is to make Winnfield "one of the greatest little cities in the nation" perhaps by booming it as the site for a state forest festival in the near future. Among those who believe in Winnfield as one of Central Louisiana's "fastest growing cities" are Mayor Eli Harrell; W. W. Shivers, secretary and manager of the Chamber of Commerce; Welby Willis, president of the Lions Club; Cas Moss, president of the Rotary Club, and past state commander of the V. F. W.; Mrs. Sion Jenkins, president of the Pilot Club; Calvin Robinson, sheriff, and the members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. (Submitted by Greggory Ellis Davies, Winnfield, Winn Parish, LA.)