| Communities | Economy | History / Markers | Local Government |
| Location / Geography | Media | Parks and Recreation | Schools and Libraries |
| Parish Map | Top of page | ||
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Unincorporated areas of interest in the parish include Beekman, Galion, Gedoie, Gum Ridge, Jones, Log Cabin, McGinty, New Block,Point Pleasant, Shelton, Spyker, Stevenson, Twin Oaks, Upland, Uscarco, Vaughn, Wardville, and Windsor. |
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Coulee Wildlife Refuge Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area |
Bayou Boeuf Bayou Bonne Idee Bayou Gallon Boeuf River Bussy Brake Ouachita River |
Point Pleasant |
History | |
| 1729 |
Morehouse Parish was originally part of Ouachita country which was roughly defined by the area between the Red and Mississippi rivers north to the Missouri River. The name Ouachita, pronounced ³Wash-i-taw², is derived from a tribe of Native Americans which inhabited that area when it was first explored by the French. European settlement of the area began about the same time as the founding of New Orleans, but the massacre of settlers at Natchez in 1729 induced the Ouachita settlers to move closer to the protection of more established communities down river. |
| 1785 |
In 1785 Don Juan Filhoil, a Frenchman in the Spanish military, was given command of the Ouachita and told to establish settlements in the area, which had become Spanish territory in 1769. He reported that no sign of the previous settlements existed.
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| 1795 |
About this time a letter from governor Carondelet to
Filhiol mentions a possible contractor. He is a Dutch man Felipe Enrique
Neri, the Baron
de Bastrop. Like the Marquis de Maison Rouge, his French properties
had been confiscated in the revolution and they had been banished from
France. If he would help populate the area he would be given a grant of over a million square acres of land. The Baron hired a man from Kentucky named Abraham Morehouse to encourage immigration to the Ouachita country. Settlers were promised title to 400 acres of land if they remained for three years. |
| 1799 |
The Baron
de Bastrop sells the "grant" to Col. Abraham Morehouse before Gabriel
J. Johnson a Kentucky Justice of the Peace. Morehouse was originally from
Montgomery County New York, claimed to be a Colonel in the New York Militia,
and had abandoned a wife and two young sons there before he began speculation
on land in Kentucky, Virginia and Louisiana. |
| 1805 |
When the Territory of Orleans is divided into counties the present-day Morehouse Parish is part of Ouachita County |
| 1844 |
Due to the population increase, Morehouse Parish is created
from the parent parish of Ouachita by an act of the Louisiana Legislature
in 1844 and at the time included within its boundary part of what is now
Richland
Parish. |
| 1850 |
Settlement mostly occurred on small prairies near navigable streams. The prairies allowed the pioneers to plant crops without clearing the land of trees. Small communities appeared near present day Bastrop and at Prairie Mer Rouge and Prairie Jefferson (Oak Ridge), but settlement of the area was slow until 1850 because the validity of the BaronËs grant was disputed by the government of the United States. Once the question of land ownership was settled by Congress and the courts, the parish of Morehouse began to grow more rapidly, new towns were established and businesses flourished.
Another boost in immigration to the area came with the steamboat era. In the 1850s the first packet boats began to arrive, carrying produce and cotton to New Orleans and delivering supplies to the new settlements. The communities near the points of river trade grew until the Civil War. |
| 1868 |
Richland Parish is organized in 1868 taking with it part of Morehouse Parish. |
| 1900 |
By 1900, Bastrop had a population of roughly eight hundred people, followed by Mer Rouge with about five hundred. Collinston, Oak Ridge and Bonita had approximately three hundred people each. Agricultural dependency continued to dictate settlement of Morehouse Parish in the first half of the twentieth century. |
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The Morehouse Parish School System includes 11 elementary, one middle, and two senior high schools. There are four private schools in the parish to provide an alternative for students not attending public schools. All public and private schools are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary schools and the Louisiana Independent School Association. Currently the percentages of graduating seniors attending college are 40.00% for the public schools. Annual cost in public funds to provide schooling is $2,801 per student, with a pupil-to teacher ratio of 17.74:1. Parish enrollment is approximately 5,676 students. |
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Vocational training is available at Bastrop Technical Institute, a state-funded facility in Bastrop, and in the vocational program of the parish schools. Vocational training includes welding, auto mechanics, small engine repair, business, LPN nursing, machine shop, drafting and instrumentation. To assure that new and expanding businesses have a continuing pool of workers with the level of education and expertise necessary for their operations, the area’s colleges and universities, vocational/technical schools and high schools graduate trained and entry-level persons year round. Schools at all levels are augmenting their general education missions with programs explicitly connected with employment possibilities for their students. This is seen in secondary schools in career education curricula and programs such as adopt-a-school through which business contributes resources, curriculum guidance and, in some cases, instruction, counseling and the promise of jobs for graduates. Community colleges are increasing their industry-specific training and colleges and universities are developing partnerships with industry that involve human as well as technological development. |
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Education |
Within an hour and a half drive of Bastrop are several colleges or universities. They offer doctoral degrees in the arts, sciences and engineering fields. These universities are nationally and internationally recognized as sponsoring extensive research activities. Northeast Louisiana University 25 miles Grambling University 60 miles Louisiana Tech 55 miles |
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Although it is one of Louisiana's youngest institutions of higher learning (established in 1931), Northeast Louisiana University has grown rapidly into one of the South's premier universities. It typifies Louisiana's dedication to excellence in Higher Education. Some Facts: € Is the largest university in North Louisiana and the fourth largest public university in Louisiana, enrolling more than 10,000 students each year from every parish in Louisiana, more than 40 other states and 50 foreign countries. € Has a $340 million annual impact on the area's economy. € Its Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology and Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Technology have been ranked among the top two percent of more than 1,800 degree programs re- viewed by the state's Board of Regents. € NLU has the state's only School of Communication. Its programs have been ranked by the Board of Regents as being the best in North Louisiana, and among the top three in the state. NLU has the only photo-journalism program in the state. NLU is the only university in the state to offer degrees in Radio/Television/Film Management, Production, Performance, Film-making, and Broadcast News plus an Associate degree in Radio/Television/Film. € NLU has the first School of Construction in the nation to be accredited, the Computer Science program was the first in North Louisiana and one of the first 48 programs in the nation to earn accreditation, the Agricultural Aviation program is the first of its kind in the nation, the first undergraduate and graduate programs in Criminal Justice in the state, its Master's degree program in Substance Abuse Counseling is the only such program in Louisiana, the first Gerontology program and graduate-level Certificate in Gerontology in the state (one of only three). € Research and Service located at NLU: The Northeast Louisiana Regional Archaeologist of the Louisiana Division of Archaeology, The Office of State Director of Louisiana Small Business Development Center, The Regional Tumor Registry, The Cancer Research Center, The Museum of Zoology is ranked in the top five in the nation. The fishes collection is one of the largest and most complete collections in the nation. The Herbarium is the largest in the state and one of the fastest growing in the nation. € Research and services are provided through such programs as the Small Business Development Center the Center for Business and Economic Research, the Behavioral Economic Research Laboratory, the Human Performance Laboratory, the Marriage and Family Counseling Center, the Center for Professional Development, the Center for Research in Education, the Climatic Research Center, the Coal Lab, Continuing Education, the Soil-Plant Analysis Lab, the University Theatre, the Drug Information Center, the Institute of Gerontology, the NLU Concerts Association, the Dental Hygiene Clinic, the Senior Community Service Project, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, the Speech and Hearing Clinic, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Technical Services Center. |
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| Located in Ruston only an hour from Bastrop, Louisiana Tech was founded in 1894 and is the oldest university in North Louisiana. Associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered in Business Administration, Arts and Sciences, Education, Engineering, Human Ecology, and Life Sciences. An international program offers classes in Italy and Mexico. The 10,000 plus students represent every parish in Louisiana, every state in America and 49 countries and give Tech the highest graduation rate in the state. The campus and the university are a source of pride, excitement and culture for all residents of Lincoln Parish. Tech's value to the community goes way beyond its educational services. Area hospitals draw upon the international reputation of its Bio-Med Center. Research in other engineering disciplines works hand-in-hand with area businesses. The university offers a variety of facilities for use by convention groups. The university Concert Association brings outstanding entertainment to the parish every year. | |
| Founded by Charles P. Adams in 1901, Grambling State University is a multi-purpose, state-supported, coeducational institution. The degree granting academic units include the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Science & Technology, Education, and Business; the Schools of Nursing and Social Work; and the Division of Graduate Studies. Preliminary training is available for medicine, law and dentistry. Non-credit continuing education programs serve the citizens of Grambling and North Louisiana. New Emphasis in Grambling State's Graduate School curriculum has been placed on the Ed.D. in Developmental Education, a unique offering in Louisiana. With an enrollment of Approximately 6000+, the University is small enough to provide its students with individual attention and concern, and large enough to offer them choices from a wide spectrum of curricular experiences. The guiding principles of the University embrace the motto that "Everybody is Somebody" | |
Director - Mary Hodgkins P. O. Box 232. Bastrop, LA 71221-0232 6 Branches - Bastrop, Bonita, Collinston, Dunbar, Mer Rouge, Oak Ridge. Morehouse Parish Library is a member of the Trail Blazer Library System, a thirteen parish cooperative library system. Because of its membership in Trail Blazer, Morehouse Parish Library can borrow material for its patrons from all other libraries in the system. Northeast Louisiana University, Grambling University and Louisiana Tech are all located within an hour and a half of Bastrop. The large collections at the university libraries are available to parish residents through Trail Blazer. American Library Directory 1999-2000, R. R. Bowker |
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