Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
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Bailey Hotel
Bailey Theatre
Bayou Rouge Baptist Church
Bordelon, Alfred H., House
Bordelon, Hypolite, House
Bordelonville Floodgate
Calliham Plantation House
Central Bank and Trust Co.
Central Bank and Trust Company, Mansura
Des Fosse, Dr. Jules Charles, House
Fort DeRussy
Fort No. 2 at Yellow Bayou
Frithland
Joffrion House
Lemoine, Thomas A., House
Lemoine, Thomas A., House
Lone Pine
Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company Depot
Marksville Commercial Historic District
Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site
Moreauville High School
Oak Hall
Oakwold Plantation House
Ponthieu, Adam, Store-Big Bend Post Office
Roy, Dr. Thomas A., Sr., House
Sarto Bridge
St. Mary's Assumption Church
St. Paul Lutheran Church
Texas and Pacific Railroad Depot
A Historic Landmark
Alfred Greenhouse, Sr. Home
Auguste Voinche Store
Avoyelles Parish Vietnam Memorial
Bailey Theater
Barbin-Satterthwaite Home
Battle of Mansura
Battle Of Yellow Bayou
Bayou Des Glaises
Belle Oak
Bettevy-DeNux-Roy Home
Big Bend: Development of a Community
Bordelon-Decuir-Robinson Home
Bordelon-Laborde Home
Brashear-Lafargue-Gremillion Home
Brouillette-Guillot-Luke House
Carlos De Grandpré Home Site
Centerpoint
Coco-Piazza Home
Confederate Hospital Site
Congregational First Baptist Church
Corrine Saucier Birth Site
Cushman Home Site
Decuir-Gaspard Home
Desfossé House
Dr. John Ware's Mule Tramway Site
Dr. Sylvan DeNux Home
Dupuis-Mims Home
E.M. Chaze Home
Eddie Knoll
Effie
Evergreen
Fogleman Cemetery
For God and Country
Fort De Russy
Founding Of Marksville
Frank Hotel Site
Gardiner-Laborde Home
Garrot-Smith Home
German Prisoner of War Camp
Graham-Guillory-Luke Home
Gremillion-Degrusha Home
Holy Ghost Catholic Church
Holy Ghost Catholic School
Hypolite Bordelon House
J. Horace Ducote Law Office
Joe Printz Store
Joffrion-Roy-Luke Home
Jules Coco Building
Laborde Building
Lewis P. Roy, Sr. Building
Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin
Mansura
Marc Eliche
Marc Eliché Home Site
Marksville Baptist Church
Marksville Masonic Lodge Building
Marksville Methodist Church
Marksville Mounds
Marksville Race Track Site
Marksville "Colored" School Site
Maxwell Bordelon Law Office
Mayer Hotel Site
Molenar Photography Studio Site
Moncla
Moreauville
Old Church of the Nazarene
Peerless Cleaners and Hotel
Poste Des Avoyelles
Presentation Academy
Presentation Academy
Presentation Convent Chapel
Red River
Roy-Cappel Home
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church
Sarto Old Iron Bridge
Sarto Old Iron Bridge
Senator Dayton C. McCann
Site of General Store
Solomon Northup, "Twelve Years a Slave"
Spring Bayou
St. Joseph Catholic Church
St. Peter's Episcopal Chapel Site
State Champions 1985
The First Bowie Knife
The Historic Oaks of Cottonport
The Marksville Site
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation
Veterans Memorial
Veterans Memorial
Vick
Watts-Dupuy-Scallan Home
What is the Sarto Bridge?
White's Chapel United Methodist Church
William Edwards Plantation Home Site
In 1762, the area became a Spanish territory and was part of the expansive Spanish Louisiana until it was sold back to the French in 1800. However, just three years later, the United States acquired the territory through the Louisiana Purchase. Avoyelles Parish was officially established in 1807, named after the Avoyel Native Americans who had once populated the area.
During the antebellum period, the parish's economy primarily relied on cotton plantations, which were worked by enslaved African Americans. The Civil War and Reconstruction had a significant impact on the area, leading to the decline of the plantation economy and the implementation of sharecropping. The parish's demographics shifted during this time, and it became a predominantly African American community.
In the 20th century, Avoyelles Parish experienced economic development through industries such as lumber, oil, and gas. The construction of roads and rail lines contributed to the growth of towns and villages in the area. Today, the parish remains agriculturally focused, with cotton, soybeans, and sugarcane being major crops, while tourism also plays a role due to its natural beauty, historical sites, and cultural events.
Brief timeline of the history of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana:
- Prehistoric times: Avoyelles Parish inhabited by Native American tribes.
- 1541: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto explores the area.
- Late 1700s: French Acadian settlers begin to inhabit the region.
- 1807: Avoyelles Parish established as a civil and political district by the Louisiana Legislature.
- 1812: The first official census of the parish reports a population of 2,686.
- 1830s: Construction of several Catholic churches in the area.
- 1857: Marksville becomes the parish seat.
- 1861-1865: Avoyelles Parish residents participate in the American Civil War.
- 1898: Constructed Courthouse in Marksville.
- 1926: Completion of the Old River Control Structure.
- 1960s-1970s: Civil rights movement influences Avoyelles Parish.
- 1995: The parish celebrates its bicentennial.
This timeline provides a condensed summary of the historical journey of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana.