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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Vernon Parish, Louisiana.
Official Website
The area comprising Vernon was a part of a tract of land whose control was disputed in the late 18th century between the United States and Spain. They called this land the "Neutral Strip" and refrained from posting police or military personnel there. As a result, the area became a haven for outlaws. Prior to the United States acquisition of this territory through the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, the primary settlers who came to the area were ethnic French and Spanish.
During this period, Dr. Timothy Burr, a Massachusetts native who had migrated to Louisiana from Mt. Vernon, Ohio, established the community of Burr Ferry at his landing on the Sabine River. This community became known as the "Gateway to Louisiana" from the west.
Bordered on the west by the Sabine River, the parish was founded in 1871 during the Reconstruction era. There are four versions of how the parish was named; the only official State version is that it was named in honor of Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington.
It was long a center of the timber industry, which harvested pine in the hills and bottomland hardwoods. Construction of a railway to the area in 1897 stimulated marketing of lumber and businesses in the area.
Since World War II, Fort Polk has been most important to the parish economy.
Adjacent Parishes & Counties
- Sabine Parish
- Natchitoches Parish
- Rapides Parish
- Allen Parish
- Beauregard Parish
- Newton County, Texas
Cities, Towns, Villages & Communities
Anacoco | Burr Ferry | Caney | Coopers | Cravens | DeRidder (part) | Evans | Fort Polk | Fullerton | Hawthorne | Hicks | Hutton | Kurthwood | Lacamp | Leander | Leesville (Parish Seat) | Pickering | Pitkin | Sandy Hill | Simpson | Slagle | Standard | Temple
Cemeteries
Links
National Register of Historic Places
Vernon Parish Historical & Genealogical Society
Vernon Parish Digital Archives
