Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

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  • Buffalo…along the Ouachita River?

    This article fascinated me and makes me sad at the same time.  The wild bull they are talking about is the buffalo, which would be almost extinct before the century…

  • A Matter of Honor

    The Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR) June 7, 1825 Page 4 Slander. – We have been informed that on the 19th April, came on for trial in the District Court…

  • Abraham Morhouse resigns from the Orleans Legislature.

    This is the earliest reference to Ouachita Parish in national papers that I have found.  Abraham Morhouse, of course,  bought land from the Baron de Bastrop and settled in what would…

  • Monroe: The Parlor City

    Did you know that Monroe once had the nickname of “The Parlor City”?  A long time ago, someone asked me how we got that nickname, and I remembered that I…

  • The Earliest Hotel in Monroe.

    Mississippi Free Trader (Natchez, MS) August 26, 1836, Page 3 MONROE HOTEL. The subscriber offers this house to the patronage of the public.  It is well located, being directly opposite…

  • And now for something completely different.

    Over the years, I have found several obituaries that made me chuckle.  Yes, really.  These are a handful that came from Monroe papers. The old harlot… The Ouachita Telegraph October 18,…

  • The Murder of Jesse Vinson

    Many years ago, I was asked if I could find the burial site of someone’s ancestor, Jesse Vinson.  The person knew very little about the circumstances of his death.  They…

  • Mayors of West Monroe, LA

    Since Mayors of West Monroe are so hard to find, here they are in a list: Zachary Clay Wright (1889 – 1890) Eugene Franklin Thompson (1890 – 1893) William W.…

  • Mayors of Monroe, LA

    A while back, someone asked for a list of all of Monroe’s mayors.  I quickly realized that wasn’t as easy to find as I thought.  There is nothing to be…

  • The first train arrives in Monroe.

    In 1852, a group of northeastern Louisiana businessmen got together to bring a rail line through Monroe.  It was almost ten years later till that dream was fulfilled.  The Vicksburg…