Places

Map courtesy of Widipedia, where the larger, original map is available

1895 Rand McNally Atlas map

1911 map courtesy of My Genealogy Hound, where the larger, original map is available

Map courtesy of University of Louisiana, where the larger, original map is available

• Anabel is a post-hamlet in the southern part of Ouachita parish, on Cypress creek, a tributary of the Ouachita river, and about 6 miles south of Lapine, the nearest railroad station.
• Bosco, a village in the extreme southeastern part of Ouachita parish, is a station on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., about 15 miles south of Monroe, the parish seat. It has a money order post office and a population of about 50.
• Cadeville, a post-hamlet in the western part of Ouachita parish on a confluent of the Ouachita rive, about 6 miles southwest of Fleming, the nearest railroad station.
• Calhoun, a village and station in the extreme western portion of Ouachita parish, on the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R., is about 15 miles west of Monroe, the parish seat. It has a money order post office, 1 free rural delivery route, an express office, telephone and telegraph facilities, and in 1900 reported a population of 150.
• Cheniere, a post-village in the northwestern part of Ouachita parish, is situated on the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R., about 9 miles west of Monroe, the parish seat. It has an express office, some retail trade, and in 1900 had a population of 100.
• Indian Village, a post-hamlet in the western part of Ouachita parish, is 4 miles southwest of Calhoun, the nearest railroad station.
• Lapine, a post office in the southwestern part of Ouachita parish, is a station on the Monroe & Southwestern R. R., 11 miles southwest of Monroe, the parish seat.
• Logtown, a post-village of Ouachita parish, is situated on the Ouachita river and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., 12 miles south of Monroe, the parish seat, in the great pine forest west of the Mississippi river. It has important lumbering interests, a telegraph station, a good retail trade, and in 1900 had a population of 160.
• Lonewa (R. R. name Phillips), a post-village in the northeastern part of Ouachita parish, is on the Little Rock & Monroe R. R., 9 miles north of Monroe, the parish seat.
• Luna, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Ouachita parish, is situated on a confluent of the Ouachita river, 4 miles south of Lapine, the nearest railroad station, and 12 miles southwest of Monroe, the parish seat.
• Mill Haven, a post-hamlet and station in the eastern part of Ouachita parish, is on the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R., 3 miles west of Bayou Lafourche and 7 miles east of Monroe, the parish seat, in the truck farming district that supplies the nearby markets of Vicksburg and Monroe with fruit and vegetables.
• Monroe, the capital of Ouachita parish, is located on the Ouachita river, about equidistant between the Mississippi and Red rivers, in the heart of the Ouachita valley, which is one of the most productive and healthful sections of the whole state. The city commands in every direction a tributary territory 75 miles in extent and as a result of its natural advantages its development along commercial and industrial lines has been rapid. Monroe was first known as Fort Miro and was settled by Don Juan Filhiol (q. v.). The fort was a square palisade that stood some distance back from the river, and here Filhiol continued to command until the United States purchased the Province of Louisiana from France in 1803. In 1807, when the Ouachita Settlement became a parish by an act of the territorial legislature, Fort Miro was selected as the seat of justice. On Sept. 5, 1811, Filhiol donated the present courthouse square to the parish judge of Ouachita, and on the same date he filed a plat or plan of the town of Miro. It went by this name until 1819, when the name was changed to Monroe, in honor of President James Monroe. The town was incorporated by an act of the legislature on March 14, 1820, was reincorporated in 1855, and a new charter was granted in 1871. This was several times amended and finally in 1900 a new and broader charter was obtained. At no time in the history of Monroe, has the city been a "boom town," but has had a natural and steady growth, due to its natural advantages and commanding position. Today it has a population of 15,000 inhabitants and is recognized as one of the most progressive cities in the state. The following religious denominations are represented in the city: Catholic, Methodist, Christian, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Baptist and Jewish, all of which have fine church buildings, and the Catholics have a convent. Educationally, Monroe is abreast of the larger cities of the state, as it maintains without the aid of state or parish its schools for white and colored, a high school, and St. Hyacinth's academy, a private Catholic institution. Commerce and industries have grown to large proportions in Monroe since the war and its trade amounts to many millions a year. Over 800,000 tons are annually shipped in and out of the city by the transportation lines by rail and water, and to accommodate this business there are 5 banks and several loan and trust associations that are important factors in the commercial and industrial life of the city. There are a number of retail establishments which supply the city and adjacent country, 4 wholesale grocery companies. 2 wholesale hardware houses, 2 wholesale drug houses, 2 wholesale liquor firms, 4 distributing stations for large packing companies, 5 yellow pine saw mills with a daily capacity of 325,000 feet, 2 cypress shingle mills with a daily capacity of 500,000, 2 cotton seed oil mills, 2 iron foundries, 1 molasses plant, 1 cotton mill with 2,500 spindles, an ice factory, 2 compresses, handling about 80,000 bales of cotton annually, the Queen & Crescent railroad shops, St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R. division headquarters and terminals, a brick plant of large capacity, 2 telegraph and 2 local and long distance telephone systems, three newspapers, a large, new hard wood mill, cold storage plant, hotel and office building. Transportation is furnished by the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R. of the Queen & Crescent system, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, the Little Rock & Monroe, the Monroe Southwestern, and the Monroe Railway & Navigation company's line plies on the Ouachita and its tributaries. The Ouachita river, which is now only navigable about 9 months of the year, is being dammed and locked by the U. S. government, and when the work is completed will afford navigation the entire year. This improvement will be of great advantage to the Ouachita valley from the head waters to the Red river. Monroe is far ahead of many of the large and older cities of the country in the matter of municipal ownership of utilities. One of the first municipally owned and operated street cars was run over the streets of Monroe in 1905, on the lines of the Monroe municipal street railway, and since that time the system has been in operation with success and profit. In addition to this Monroe owns and operates its water and light plant, sewerage system, free traffic bridge across the Ouachita river and a public market. The parish fair grounds, located at Monroe, are owned and run by the street railroads, there is an amusement park in connection, with a summer theatre which has a capacity of 1,500. The Progressive League, an organization that has as its object the advancement and upbuilding of Monroe, was organized in 1904 and has done much for the growth and enterprise of the city.
• Okaloosa, a post-hamlet in the western part of Ouachita parish, 7 miles southwest of Cheniere, the nearest railroad station, and 12 miles southwest of Monroe, the parish seat.
• Sterlington, a post-village of Ouachita parish, is situated on the Ouachita river and is a station on the Little Rock, & Monroe R. R., 12 miles north of Monroe, the parish seat. It is in one of the richest cotton producing districts in the state and is the supply and shipping depot for a considerable area of the rich Ouachita valley.
• Swartz, a village in the northeastern part of Ouachita parish, is on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., 10 miles northeast of Monroe, the parish seat. It is located in a rich agricultural district of which it is the trading center. It has a money order post office, telegraph and express offices, and in 1900 had a population of 167.
• Trenton, a town of Ouachita parish, is situated on the west bank of the Ouachita river, about 2 miles above Monroe, the parish seat and nearest railroad station. It is an old town, incorporated Feb. 28, 1870, and in 1900 had a population of 100. There is rural free delivery from Monroe.
• West Monroe, one of the new incorporated towns of Ouachita parish, which sprang up after the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R. was built, is a station on that line about 2 miles west of Monroe, the parish seat. It was first laid out in 1839 and called Cottonport, but later the name was changed to West Monroe. When the railroad was built it became a center of trade. It has a bank, a money order post office, telegraph and express offices, good schools, churches and mercantile establishments, and in 1900 had a population of 775.
• Wham (R. R. name BoeufJ), a post-station near the northeast corner of Ouachita parish, is on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., 15 miles northeast of Monroe, the parish seat.

Extracted 03 Nov 2019 by Norma Hass from Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, edited by Alcee Fortier, published in 1909, volumes 1 & 2.

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