Bastrop, Louisiana

Bastrop was founded by the Baron de Bastrop (ne Felipe Enrique Neri), a Dutch businessman accused as an embezzler. He had fled to the then Spanish colony of Louisiana to escape prosecution, and became involved in various land deals. In New Spain, he falsely claimed to be a nobleman. He received a large grant of land, provided that he could settle 450 families on it over the next several years. However, he was unable to do this, and so lost the grant. Afterwards, he moved to Texas, where he claimed to oppose the sale of Louisiana to the United States and became a minor government official. He proved instrumental in Moses Austin's plan (and later, that of his son, Stephen F. Austin) to bring American colonists to what was then northern Mexico.

Bastrop formally incorporated in 1857, and is the commercial and industrial center of Morehouse Parish. In the 19th century, it was notable as the western edge of the great north Louisiana swamp, but more favorable terrain resulted in the antebellum rail line connecting to Monroe, Louisiana, further to the south.

Bastrop was a Confederate stronghold during the American Civil War until January 1865, when 3,000 cavalrymen led by Colonel Embury D. Osband of the 3rd United States Colored Cavalry Regiment, embarked from Memphis, Tennessee, for northeastern Louisiana. Landing first in southeastern Arkansas, Osband and his men began foraging for supplies into Louisiana and established headquarters at Bastrop. They brought in a large number of horses, mules, and Negroes, according to the historian John D. Winters in The Civil War in Louisiana. When Osband learned that Confederate Colonel A.J. McNeill was camped near Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish with 800 men, he sent a brigade into the area. The Union troops found fewer than 60 Confederates, most of whom fled into the swamps, leaving behind horses and mules.*[5]

During the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, Bastrop was the site of a relief camp for refugees. During World War II, it was the site of a German prisoner-of-war camp.

Morehouse Parish Courthouse

Bastrop is also the parish seat of Morehouse Parish and is within an area marketed to tourists as the Sportsman's Paradise Region of Louisiana. It is a Main Street Community and has received Transportation Enhancement funding for improvements in its historic district.[6]

Celebrations and concerts are held in the historic downtown at the restored 1914 Morehouse Parish Courthouse and Rose Theater. Bastrop is home to the Snyder Museum and Creative Arts Center, housed in the circa 1929 home of a local family. Volunteers lead heritage appreciation tours for children and interpret the history of the parish using local artifacts.[6]

The Bastrop area economy is largely based on forestry, cotton and rice farming, and potato shipping. Hunting, camping, and fishing are pastimes in the many bayous and rivers. Shopping is also a popular tourist attraction in the area. The Snyder Museum keeps information relating to local history and displays furniture typical of fine homes from the Civil War and early 20th century periods.

Barham's Drugs on the courthouse square in Bastrop was formerly owned and operated by Henry Alfred Barham, Jr. (1919-1993), and his wife, the former Ann Jocelyn Heres (1929-2015). Mrs. Barham, originally educated in home economics at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, was the first woman pharmacist in Morehouse Parish and a graduate of the pharmacy school at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She was a two-term member of the Morehouse Parish School Board.[7] Alfred Barham was an older brother of Mack Barham, a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and a distant cousin of State Senators Robert J. Barham and Edwards Barham.

IPC mill closing

The former International Paper Company mill

On November 21, 2008, International Paper Company, the largest area employer, announced the cessation of operations of its Bastrop mill. The company first said that the closure is "indefinite" and subsequently confirmed that the exodus is "permanent".[8] Some 17 percent of the area workforce faced layoffs or downsizing. Clarence Hawkins, then the Bastrop mayor, predicted that the impact of the closure would be felt throughout northeastern Louisiana and southern Arkansas because employees and suppliers come from all over the region.[9]

Then Governor Bobby Jindal deployed a Louisiana Work Force Commission team to open an information center in Bastrop. Jindal indicated that he will pursue an economic transition plan for Morehouse Parish. The governor explained that the closure resulted because there is "simply no market for [pulp] produced at this mill. I don't want to sugarcoat this. There would have to be a dramatic change in the world economy for it to reopen, and it would have to strengthen as quickly as it weakened." Jindal said the state offered "more direct assistance to International Paper than we have to any other company since I've been governor." The company, however, explained that the issue was no longer one of inducements to stay but the vanished market. The largest customer of the Louisiana mill was China, where orders ceased with international economic downturns and the tightening of credit markets.[10]

Bastrop is located at 32°46′40″N 91°54′54″W (32.777855, −91.914944).[16] It is situated at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 425 and U.S. Highway 165. La. Highway 2 and Louisiana Highway 139 also runs through the town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.9 square miles (23 km²), all land.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 11,365 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 72.2% Black, 25.6% White, 0.1% Native American, 0.4% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, <0.1% from some other race and 0.9% from two or more races. 0.8% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the census[18] of 2000, there were 12,988 people, 4,723 households, and 3,301 families living in the city. The population density was 1,543.9 people per square mile (596.3/km²). There were 5,292 housing units at an average density of 629.1 per square mile (243.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 34.67% White, 64.50% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.04% from other races, and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.

There were 4,723 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.0% were married couples living together, 28.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.1% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $20,418, and the median income for a family was $26,250. Males had a median income of $30,477 versus $15,813 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,769. About 29.6% of families and 35.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.2% of those under age 18 and 30.5% of those age 65 or over.

The 1023rd Engineer Company (Vertical) of the 528th Engineer Battalion of the 225th Engineer Brigade is located in Bastrop.

Bastrop is governed by a mayor and board of aldermen. In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on April 4, 2009, Betty Alford-Olive upset incumbent Mayor Clarence Hawkins. Alford-Olive polled 58 percent of the ballots. Her fellow Democrat Hawkins, received 29 percent, and a third candidate, Troy L. Downs, garnered the remaining 12 percent. Alford-Olive, who completed two terms on the city council, called her victory a sign that people want change in municipal government. "We hope to get small businesses to grow and involve the banking industry. We have to look at where the economy is emerging. We have to make sure we have a trained work force." Hawkins had been the first African-American to serve in the top municipal position in Bastrop history.[19]

In 2013, Arthur Jones, the former long-term Bastrop municipal recreation director, narrowly unseated Alford-Olive. In his first days on the job in July, he spent much of his time reopening the large East Madison swimming pool. The facility has a capacity of 450,000 gallons of water and can accommodate three hundred persons. Jones said that his interest in the pool is a reflection of his concern about idle youth. Jones will seek to attract new smaller industries to Bastrop to fill part of the void left by the closing in 2008 of the International Paper mill.[20]

On April 29, 2017, Henry Cotton defeated former Mayor Betty Alford-Olive in a runoff election to become Mayor-elect. Cotton received 1,758 votes (58%) while Alford-Olive only obtained 741 votes (42%). On July 1, 2017, Henry Cotton was inaugurated as mayor of Bastrop, Louisiana.

J.D. DeBlieux, a former state senator from Baton Rouge who spent his later years in the Bastrop area, was among the first white politicians in Louisiana to support the civil rights agenda.

The Bastrop City Hall and Police Station were designed by native son Hugh G. Parker (1934–2007), who overcame childhood polio to become a significant architect in Louisiana. The original City Hall dates to 1927 under the Mayor A. G. Bride.

Bastrop Daily Enterprise newspaper office

Bastrop and Morehouse Parish are served by a daily newspaper, the Bastrop Daily Enterprise.

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  Historic First United Methodist Church dates to 1826 in Bastrop; the current downtown sanctuary was completed in 1924.
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  First Baptist Church of Bastrop
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  The unusually configured First Church of God in Bastrop is located across the street from the Morehouse Parish Library.
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  Rose Theatre at rear of the Morehouse Parish Courthouse.
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  Farmers Market in Bastrop
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  Central Fire Station in Bastrop
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  Bastrop has two branches of Louisiana Technical College.
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  Bastrop welcome sign

• Park Place
• White Star
• Gladney Park Estates
• Morehouse Country Club Estates
• Morehouse Country Club Extension Estates
• Ralph George Park Estates
• Downtown
• Austin Village
• Naff Estates
• South Point
• Hill View
• Twin Peaks
• Emily Clark Park Estates
• Briarwood Estates
• Everglade Estates
• Arrowhead Estates
• Arlington Estates
• Airport Estates
• Cleveland Estates
• Space Estates
• Cooperlake Estates
• Marlett Estates
• Uptown Estates
• United Estates
• Rusty Acres Estates
• Madison Place
• Sugar Hill

• Wardville
• Uscarco
• Shelton
• Rogers
• Point Pleasant
• Perryville
• Newhlock
• Log Cabin
• Collinston
• Gum Ridge
• Marcarco
• Spyker
• Upland
• Windsor
• Oak Ridge
• Bordenax
• Mer Rouge
• Galion
• Stampley
• Bonita
• Haynes Landing
• Jones
• Laark
• McGinty
• New Land Grove Landing
• Oak Landing
• Beekman
• Vaughn
• Stevenson
• Robinson
• Naff
• Humphreys
• Geddie
• Couters Neck

• Ronnie Coleman, professional bodybuilder
• Bill Dickey, Major League Baseball player
• Denzel Devall, college football player
• Michael Echols, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
• Stump Edington, Major League Baseball player who died in Bastrop
• David 'Bo' Ginn, state senator from Morehouse Parish from 1980 to 1988
• Luther E. Hall, Governor of Louisiana
• Sam Hanna, newspaper publisher began his journalism career at the Bastrop Daily Enterprise.
• Ed Head, Major League Baseball player who died in Bastrop.
• Mable John, Motown Records singer, was born in Bastrop.
• Bob Love, NBA Basketball Player
• Jim Looney, NFL player
• Charles McDonald, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1991 to 2008
• Calvin Natt, National Basketball Association player who was born in Monroe, but attended Bastrop High School, later NLU and was an NBA All-Star with the Denver Nuggets.
• Kenny Natt, National Basketball Association younger brother of Kenny Natt, Drafted by Indiana Pacers in 1980
• Willie Parker, NFL and WFL player
• Rueben Randle, LSU Tigers football, Wide Receiver, and led Bastrop High School to a State Championship, was drafted by the New York Giants in the 2012 draft
• Shane Reynolds, Major League Baseball player[27]
• John Wesley Ryles, Country singer was born in Bastrop in 1950.
• Talance Sawyer, was also born in Bastrop and later played for the Minnesota Vikings.
• Dylan Scott, country music singer-songwriter
• Dorothy Garrett Smith, first woman president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, 1989 to her death in 1990[28]
• Pat Williams, NFL player who was born in Bastrop and played for the Minnesota Vikings.
• Hulon B. Whittington, Medal of Honor recipient

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bastrop, Louisiana.

• City of Bastrop
• Bastrop Progress Community Progress Site for Bastrop, LA
• Bastrop Daily Enterprise
• (http://www.mpsb.us)