Town of Ringgold

In the winter of 1827-28, the first constructed road in north Louisiana appeared. U. S. Military Road Number 11 connected Fort Jesup in Sabine Parish west of Natchitoches to Fort Gibson and Fort Smith in Arkansas and Fort Towson in Oklahoma. Over this road troops and supplies, as well as many pioneers traveled to the frontier and opened these areas up to development. The officer in charge of the troops building the road was Major Samuel Ringgold, who made many friends in the area.

The site contained a tavern that had served as a mail route and stage coach stop between Natchitoches and Washington, Arkansas since 1823. In the 1840s a sawmill was constructed which gave it an earlier name of Slab Town. This name came from a unique construction of local buildings that used discarded slabs of timber usually burned as firewood.

The town has prospered because of the fertile soil between Lake Bistineau and Black Lake Bayou and oil and gas discoveries in the area.


Type of Government: Mayor / Bd. of Alderman (5) Lawrason Act
Police: 4 officers, 3 patrol cars.
Fire District: 50 vol.
Fire Rating: 6 in city.
Health Care: Modern Outpatient clinic, see Arcadia
Recreation & Culture: Lake Bistineau State Game and Fish Preserve, Black Lake Bayou,
Slab Town Festival.
Hotels: 1/6 rooms