Arkana, Louisiana

Last updated

Arkana, Louisiana
ghost town
USA Louisiana location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Arkana, Louisiana
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Arkana, Louisiana
Coordinates: 33°01′06″N93°40′29″W / 33.01833°N 93.67472°W / 33.01833; -93.67472
Country United States
State Louisiana
Parish Bossier
Elevation
244 ft (74 m)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code 318
GNIS feature ID541047 [1]


In the 1890s, Arkana was described as a new railroad town, and was later the site of a rail station, lumber mill, church, post office, and school. The community was also the site of the Arkana and Eastern Railroad Company, a rail line which operated between Arkana and Springhill in the early 20th century.

Contents

Naming

Arkana was named "ark-" plus "-ana" from "Louisiana" and "Arkansas". [2] [3]

Geography

The community was at altitude 244 feet (74 m) and in the 1940s had a population of 50 people. [3]

History

Arkana at the north end of Bossier Parish, Louisiana, 1925 Bossier Parish and Webster Parish, Louisiana, 1925.png
Arkana at the north end of Bossier Parish, Louisiana, 1925

Early years

One of the early settlers of Arkana was Jackson Clark Byram, who established a homestead in 1848. [4] He was the veteran of three wars and had a large family. [5]

Arkana was originally a rail station on the Cotton Belt Route (the St. Louis Southwestern Railway), [6] a major railroad connecting the US states of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas. [7] A sawmill owned by the Arkana Lumber Company operated in Arkana until 1899, when it burned, at a loss of $45,000. [8] This was one of several sawmill fires in Arkana; an earlier fire had occurred in 1892. [9]

By the 1890s, a history of northwestern Louisiana called Arkana "a new railroad town", [10] and in 1912, the Bossier City Banner described Arkana as a "place and community". [11] The population of Arkana was 12 in 1900. [12]

A tract of 4,000 acres was platted for the Arkana townsite in 1915, with plans for small parcels to be sold to settlers. [13] Arkana was soon home to several stores, a church and a post office. [14] The Arkana townsite was developed by the Cotton Belt Land and Development Company, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. [15]

Arkana in northern Bossier Parish, Louisiana, in 1907 Northern Bossier Parish, LA,1907.png
Arkana in northern Bossier Parish, Louisiana, in 1907

Arkana was also the site of the Arkana and Eastern Railroad Company, a short rail line which operated between the communities of Arkana and Springhill in the late 19th and early 20th century. [16] [17]

20th century

The Burton Lumber Company operated a lumber mill in Arkana during the 1920s and 1930s. [18] [19] Portions of the Burton Mill caught fire on five occasions in 1922. [20]

Circa 1920, the community of Arkana was the site of the Arkana School. [21] The population of Arkana in 1920 was 63. [22]

In April 1936, Louisiana Highway 10 (now Louisiana Highway 3) between Arkana and Plain Dealing was completed. It was reported that "Arkana will have a good road leading both north and south." [23]

Arkana's population in 1940 was 63. [24] In 1952, The Plain Dealing Progress reported that the hard surface road between Hope, Arkansas, and Arkana had been extended. [25]

In 1980, it was reported that the Crystal Oil and Land Company was pumping over 2 million cubic feet of gas per day from a site 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southwest of what had become known as "the old Arkana townsite." [26] [27]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bossier Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Bossier Parish is a parish located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 128,746.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bossier City, Louisiana</span> City in Louisiana, United States

Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a total population of 62,701, up from 61,315 in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plain Dealing, Louisiana</span> Town in Louisiana, United States

Plain Dealing is a town in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 893 in 2020. It is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bogalusa, Louisiana</span> City in Louisiana, United States

Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. In the 2020 census the city reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans–Metairie–Hammond combined statistical area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cullen, Louisiana</span> Town in Louisiana, United States

Cullen is a town just south of Springhill in northern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,163 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springhill, Louisiana</span> City in Louisiana, United States

Springhill is a small city in the northernmost of Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,279 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 160 since 2000. Springhill is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area though it is thirty miles north of Minden, the seat of government of Webster Parish. The Springhill population is 34 percent African American, compared to 25 percent minority in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shreveport, Louisiana</span> City in Louisiana, United States

Shreveport is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, of which it is the parish seat. It extends along the west bank of the Red River into neighboring Bossier Parish. The 2020 census tabulation for the city's population was 187,593, while the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area had a population of 393,406.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ark-La-Tex</span> Region in the United States

The Ark-La-Tex is a socio-economic tri-state region where the Southern U.S. states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas join together. The region contains portions of Northwest Louisiana, Northeast Texas, and South Arkansas as well as the extreme southeastern tip of Oklahoma, in McCurtain County, partly centered upon the Red River, which flows along the Texas–Oklahoma state line into Southwestern Arkansas and Northwest Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 220 (Louisiana)</span> Highway in Louisiana

Interstate 220 (I-220) in Louisiana is an east–west bypass route around Shreveport which is in the northwestern corner of the state. It runs 17.62 miles (28.36 km) from I-20 and Louisiana Highway 3132 (LA 3132) in Shreveport to a second interchange with I-20 in Bossier City. The highway serves as a northern bypass of the downtown area for through traffic traveling on I-20, and, with LA 3132, the highway helps to carry through traffic between the two currently disconnected portions of I-49, the area's main north–south route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area</span> Metropolitan statistical area in Louisiana, United States

The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, officially designated Shreveport–Bossier City by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater Shreveport, is a metropolitan statistical area in northwestern Louisiana that covers three parishes: Caddo, Bossier, and DeSoto. At the 2020 United States census, the metropolitan region had a population of 393,406; its American Community Survey population was 397,590 per census estimates. With a 2010 census population of 439,000, it declined to become Louisiana's fourth largest metropolis at 394,706 residents at the 2019 census estimates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Highway 3</span> State highway in Louisiana, United States

Louisiana Highway 3 (LA 3) is a state highway located in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. It runs 35.71 miles (57.47 km) in a north–south direction from the junction of Interstate 20 (I-20), U.S. Highway 71 (US 71), and LA 72 in Bossier City to the Arkansas state line north of Plain Dealing.

Foster Lonnie Campbell Jr. is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He served in the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shreveport–Bossier City–Minden CSA</span> Combined Statistical Area in Louisiana, United States

The Shreveport–Bossier City–Minden combined statistical area is made up of four parishes in northwestern Louisiana. The statistical area consists of the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area and the Minden micropolitan statistical area. As of the 2010 census, the CSA had a population of 439,000. In 2013, OMB changed statistical definitions, subsuming Minden into the Shreveport metro ; in 2018, these changes were reversed.

Bossier Parish School Board is a school district headquartered in Benton, Louisiana, United States. The Superintendent of Bossier Schools is, as of 2024, Jason Rowland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Cox (judge)</span> American judge (born 1965)

Jeffrey Stephen Cox, known as Jeff Cox is a judge of the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit, based in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Plain Dealing High School, formerly Plain Dealing Middle/High School and Louisiana New Tech at Plain Dealing, is public school in Plain Dealing, Louisiana, United States. It is a part of Bossier Parish Schools.

Ryan Eugene Gatti is an attorney in his native Bossier City, Louisiana, who was a Republican member of the Louisiana Senate from 2016 until 2020 for District 36. Gatti served as vice-chairman of the Insurance Committee and on the Natural Resources Committee, Judiciary A Committee and Military Affairs.

The Arkansas Southern Railroad Company was a small carrier with track in Arkansas and Louisiana. It was incorporated in 1892 and merged out of existence in 1905.

The Kingston and Choctaw Valley Railroad (K&CV) was a short-lived industrial railway serving the lumber industry in the later days of Indian Territory, in what is now Le Flore County in the State of Oklahoma. Twelve miles in length, it ran from Thomasville to rail connections at Howe.

William Edward Waggonner was an American sheriff. He served as the sheriff in Bossier Parish, Louisiana from 1948 to 1976.

References

  1. ↑ "Geographic Names Information System". edits.nationalmap.gov. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  2. ↑ Leeper 2012, p. 20.
  3. 1 2 FWP 1941, p. 635.
  4. ↑ "Byram Family Holds Biennial Reunion Near Ida". The Madison Journal. August 5, 1966. Retrieved November 29, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "125 Descendants Of Pioneer Local Family Stage Reunion". Bossier Tribune. July 20, 1966. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. National Railway Publication Company. 1910. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  7. ↑ "The Cotton Belt Route Story". arkansasrailroadmuseum.org. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ Fire and Water. New York, NY: F. W. Shepperd. 1899. pp. 197–198. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Untitled". Bossier Banner-Progress. Benton, LA. February 4, 1892. p. 2. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  10. ↑ Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana: Comprising a Large Fund of Biography of Actual Residents, and an Interesting Historical Sketch of Thirteen Counties. Chicago, IL: Southern Publishing Company. 1890. p. 122. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Arkana". The Bossier Banner. Bellevue, LA. August 1, 1912. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Image 280 of Dun and Bradstreet Reference Book: March, 1901; Vol. 132, part 1". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  13. ↑ The Lumber Trade Journal. 1915. p. 36. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  14. ↑ "The Towns in Bossier Parish Were Named By Early Settlers" (PDF). Ark-La-Tex Genealogical Association. 1990. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Visit of Indiana Party to This City Will be of Value, Says Mr. Bolinger". The Times. Shreveport, LA. June 6, 1915. p. 6. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  16. ↑ Bruner, E.O. (1912). A Hand-book of Louisiana: Giving General and Agricultural Features, together with Crops that can be Grown. Description of each Parish, Climate, Health, Education, Industries, Railroads, Water-Courses, Forestry, Etc (PDF). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State Board of Agriculture and Immigration. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Arkana & Eastern Railroad Company (La.), Map Showing Route in 1907". ttarchive.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  18. ↑ Southern Lumberman Directory of Southern Saw Mills (PDF). 1934. p. 189. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  19. ↑ The Lumber Manufacturer and Dealer. Kriechbaum Publishing Company. 1925. p. 30c. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Around Arkana". The Bossier Banner. Bellevue, LA. October 25, 1922. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Arkana". The Bossier Banner. April 1, 1920. p. 3. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  22. ↑ Premier Atlas of the World. New York: Rand McNally and Company. 1925. p. 198.
  23. ↑ "Arkana News". Bossier Banner-Progress. April 19, 1936. p. 2. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  24. ↑ The Attorneys List. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Attorney List Department. 1940. p. 85. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  25. ↑ Phillips, F. G. (March 27, 1952). "Mid-Century Plain Dealing". The Plain Dealing Progress. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Completions". The Times. Shreveport, LA. May 4, 1980. p. 62. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  27. ↑ "New pay indicated in Bossier". The Times. Shreveport, LA. January 27, 1980. p. 56. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.