- Newellton, Louisiana
-
Town of Newellton Town 
Newellton, Louisiana, Water TowerCountry United States State Louisiana Parish Tensas Elevation 79 ft (24.1 m) Coordinates 32°04′22″N 91°14′21″W / 32.07278°N 91.23917°W Area 0.9 sq mi (2.3 km2) - land 0.8 sq mi (2 km2) - water 0.1 sq mi (0 km2), 11.11% Population 1,227 (2010) Density 1,960.2 / sq mi (756.8 / km2) Mayor Alex Davis Timezone CST - summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5) Postal code 71357 Area code 318 
Location of Newellton in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United StatesNewellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population is 1,227 in the 2010 census, a decline of 255 from 2000. Newellton is some 65 percent African American. It is just west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake. Further south toward St. Joseph is Lake Bruin, another ox-bow lake, a part of which is the popular Lake Bruin State Park.
Contents
History
Earliest years
The French explorer La Salle passed through the Newellton area in 1682 as he followed the Mississippi River to its mouth near the future New Orleans.
Newellton itself was founded in the early 19th century by the Routh family, for whom the defunct Routhwood Elementary School was named. John David Stokes Newell, Sr. (1837–1899), a planter and lawyer in St. Joseph, the seat of Tensas Parish, named the settlement for his father, Edward D. Newell (1810–1888), a native of North Carolina who relocated to Tensas Parish in 1834.[1]
John Newell was a Confederate veteran who joined the Tensas Cavalry and fought in 1862 in both Shiloh, Tennessee, and Corinth, Mississippi. In 1864, he married Nannie Newell, a first cousin, and they had four sons. After the Civil War, he returned to cotton planting on the Cypress Plantation and resumed his legal practice. He promoted public education and was named president of the Tensas Parish School Board in 1866 and again in 1892. He died in St. Joseph and is interred at Vicksburg.[1]
The Newell Cemetery on State Highway 575 offers the history of the Newell family on a marble archway at the entrance.[2]
Civil War
During the Civil War on June 4, 1863, Confederate cavalry led by Major Isaac F. Harrison attacked a Negro camp of instruction on Lake St. Joseph, killed the white captain and twelve blacks, and captured 875 others. Harrison retrieved a supply of arms, medicine, and other supplies left behind by the Union.[3]
South of Newellton is the restored Winter Quarters State Historic Site plantation home, where troops under Union General U.S. Grant spent the winter of 1862-1863, prior to embarking on the blockade of Vicksburg the following spring and summer. Winter Quarters is not mentioned by the historian John D. Winters in his 1963 work, The Civil War in Louisiana, but he does cover several wartime experiences in Tensas Parish as a whole.
20th century
Myrtis Jones Crawley recalls that Newellton at mid-century had several clothing stores, drug stores, grocery stores, a bus station, train station, and theater. The dime store, she remembers, had a soda fountain, where teen-agers would gather. "In the days of growing up in Newellton, there were love songs and soft music. Then came rock and roll, and Elvis Presley . . . It was a time to live and have fun, for life was ever changing."[4]
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Newellton was the home on U.S. Route 65 (known as "River Road") of Dutch Gardens, a 13-acre tulip field which offered a Dutch-style windmill, cheese, wooden shoes, and other items associated with the Netherlands.[5] There were also marigolds and gladioli in bloom. More than 100,000 visited Dutch Gardens in 1965 alone. There was no admission; the snack bar and curio shop sought to finance the operation. Dutch Gardens was owned by businessman Edwin Randolph McDonald, Sr.[6] (1899–1976), a native of Gainesville, Florida.[7] Dutch Gardens was razed after McDonald's death.
Prior to the 1970s, many people came from miles away on Saturdays to downtown Newellton, when the town still had multiple businesses. Newellton High School alumnus Robert Patt recalls the town was "like living in Mayberry with Andy Griffith and Barney Fife. The people were great, no crime and loads of fun. The town on Saturday evening was full, and most of the people were like family."[4]
Similarly, Jerry Kelly recalls that Newellton people were not respecters of persons: "You were judged by your actions and not by your social standing. I loved my years at Newellton High School and wouldn't trade them for anything. Playing football probably gave me more character, not to mention 'bad knees' and 'a crooked nose' than anything I did."[4]
Ronald Ray Graves recalls his growing up in Newellton as "a great experience, and I feel like part of me has always stayed there. It is a sad feeling when I go back now and see that the town has all but dried up. In the 1960s, Newellton was a really active place, especially on Saturday nights. I worked at Camey Arnold’s grocery store, and at 10 p.m. on Saturday we had to go out into the street to tell people to come pick up their groceries. Everyone in Newellton was caring and friendly. I don't remember anyone that wasn't actively part of the town. The people there cared about one another and supported the activities, especially those that were for the youth . . . "[4]
Alice Hull Andrey recalls the safety of the Newellton of the past: "We never locked our doors or car. We could leave our bicycles out with no fear they would be taken. [After basketball games] we could walk home late at night. This could never be done today. . . .[4]
Political matters
Founded in 1875, Newellton was in 1904 designated a village. On April 4, 1951, under the Lawrason Act, Newellton was upgraded to a town.
The mayor is the Democrat Alex Davis. There are also five aldermen and a police chief, Johnny Gales, also a Democrat. Davis, an African American, unseated the 28-year incumbent Mayor Edwin G. Preis, Sr. (1916-2011),[8] a white businessman, in the primary held on October 7, 2000. Davis received 366 votes (56.8 percent) to Preis' 184 (28.6 percent), and F.A. "Coonie" McVay's 94 votes (14.6 percent).[9]
As of 2008, the Newellton clerk was Rhonda King, and there were three police officers who shared one patrol car and eighteen volunteer firefighters.[10]
Prior to 1968, each parish regardless of population had at least one member in the Louisiana House of Representatives. The last member to represent only Tensas Parish was then Democrat S. S. DeWitt (1914–1998) of Newellton and later St. Joseph. DeWitt represented Tensas Parish from 1964–1968, and then from 1968–1972, he and Lantz Womack of Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish, together represented Franklin, Tensas, and Madison parishes. Womack defeated DeWitt in single-member District 20 in the 1971 party primary. DeWitt later switched to Republican affiliation.
In 1995, a Baton Rouge attorney, Democrat Phil Preis, son of then Mayor Edwin Preis, was among sixteen gubernatorial candidates who sought to succeed Edwin Washington Edwards. He polled 133,271 (9 percent) of the votes statewide. In Tensas Parish, he received a plurality of the ballots, 1,233 votes (36.9 percent). The eventual winner of the election, Republican Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., polled only 232 votes (6.9 percent) in Tensas Parish in the primary.[11] When Preis ran again for governor in 1999, he polled 144 votes (4.2 percent) in his own Tensas Parish.[12]
The former Newellton High School
Newellton High School, which served grades pre-kindergarten-12, had only seventy-four students at the close of the 2005-2006 academic year. The Tensas Parish School Board first voted on May 18, 2006, by a four-to-three margin to keep Newellton High functioning for at least an additional year. Superintendent Carol Shipp Johnson had proposed that the school be closed and that all the Newellton students be bused to St. Joseph, the parish seat. Under the superintendent's proposal, high schools students would have attended Joseph Moore Davidson High School, which serves only grades 7-12 and also had a low enrollment.
Ultimately, it was decided to consolidate Newellton and Davidson schools into Tensas High School, with grades 7-12 at the Davidson campus in St. Joseph, where pupils from the zone of the former Waterproof High School in Waterproof were already in attendance. Violence broke out at the consolidated school on November 2, 2006, when fourteen male students were arrested by the office of Tensas Parish Sheriff Rickey Jones.[13]
Newellton High had a relatively new facility, and the board was reluctant to abandon a structure still in good condition even though the enrollment numbers could not sustain continuation. The elementary grades continue to operate on the Newellton campus through grade eight. Seventh and eighth graders in Tensas Parish outside of Newellton attend Tensas High School.
In August 1970, Newellton High School was among the last of Louisiana public school to be desegregated under federal court orders. William Edward "Bill" Vosburg (born October 13, 1940), a native of New Roads, the seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, was the principal during the early years of transition. The superintendent at the time was Charles Ed Thompson (1932–1993), a Tensas Parish native who later accepted a position with the Louisiana Department of Education in Baton Rouge under Superintendent Louis J. Michot.
After the desegregation of Newellton High School, numerous white pupils from throughout Tensas Parish then attended the private school, Tensas Academy in St. Joseph
Geography
Newellton is located at 32°4′22″N 91°14′21″W / 32.07278°N 91.23917°W (32.072740, -91.239230)[14].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2), of which, 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) of it (12.64%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[15] of 2000, there were 1,482 people, 536 households, and 376 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,960.2 people per square mile (752.9/km²). There were 595 housing units at an average density of 787.0 per square mile (302.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 34.41% White, 64.71% African American, 0.07% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.96% of the population.
There were 536 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.5% were married couples living together, 30.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the town the population was spread out with 32.0% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 80.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $17,457, and the median income for a family was $21,029. Males had a median income of $23,333 versus $14,519 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,365. About 33.8% of families and 38.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 48.9% of those under age 18 and 31.9% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
- Ray R. Allen, public official in Alexandria, Louisiana, was reared in Tensas Parish and graduated from Newelloton High School, ca. 1937.
- Sarah Dorsey, author, historian, and benefactor of Jefferson Davis, lived at the Routh Plantation near Newellton in the early 1850s.[16]
- Emmitt Douglas, president of the Louisiana NAACP from 1966 until his death in 1981, was born in Newellton and educated in Tensas Parish public schools before he entered Xavier University in New Orleans.[17]
- C.B. Forgotston (born in Newellton in 1945) is a lawyer in Hammond and a state government watchdog and political activist. Forgotston graduated from Newellton High School in 1962.[18]
- James E. Paxton (born December 19, 1963) of Newellton is the district attorney for the 6th Judicial District based in Tallulah. He succeeded Buddy Caldwell after the latter's election in 2007 as Louisiana Attorney General.
- Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker, African American trombonist, was born near Newellton. He is among the honorees of the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday in Concordia Parish. His career took him as far as Canada and Great Britain as well as all along the Mississippi River delta country.[19]
- Christy Oldham (born September 14, 1972) of Newellton is the co-owner of Mercury Rishing Films in Hollywood, California. She wrote the screen play and produced, directed, and starred in the full feature 2010 film Barracuda.
Gallery
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Numerous businesses in downtown Newellton have closed. -
Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River, is located about Newellton, rather than the parish seat of St. Joseph. -
The Tensas State Bank building in Newellton -
Newellton Grain Elevator -
Winter Quarters State Historic Site near Newellton -
The historic Newellton Union Church, a nondenominational congregation, was established in 1890. -
First Baptist Church of Newellton; pastor Dennis Campbell (2008 photo) -
Renovated First Baptist Church (2010 photo) -
The former Newellton High School now houses Newellton Elementary. -
Defunct Tensas Medical Center in Newellton -
Legion Memorial Cemetery north of Newellton
References
- ^ a b "John ... and Edward Newell", Louisiana Historical Association, A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 600
- ^ http://www.ladelta65.org/places/Newellton.htm
- ^ John D. Winters, The Civil War in Louisiana, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963, ISBN 0-8071-0834-0, pp, 198-199
- ^ a b c d e "Newellton: What It Was Like to Grow up There". nhsrecr.com. http://nhsrecr.com/NHS/newell50s.htm. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ "Louisiana Dutch Gardens postcard". flickr.com. http://www.flickr.com/photos/vernonparish/2808287569/. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ^ Dutch Gardens of Newellton. The Rotarian (December 1965). http://books.google.com/books?id=yTMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=Dutch+Gardens+of+Newellton,+LA#v=onepage&q=Dutch%20Gardens%20of%20Newellton%2C%20LA&f=false. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ^ Cemetery listings, Legion Memorial Cemetery, Newellton, Louisiana
- ^ "Edwin G. Preis". Baton Rouge Morning Advodate, July 29, 2011. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?n=edwin-g-preis&pid=152797628. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 7, 2000
- ^ http://enlou.com/communities/newellton.htm; Newellton Town Hall: 318-467-5050
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State-Multi-Parish Elections Inquiry
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State-Parish Elections Inquiry
- ^ http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/NEWS01/611030317
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Dorsey, Sarah Anne Ellis". A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahist.org). http://www.lahistory.org/site21.php. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- ^ "Douglas, Emmitt Jame". A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). http://www.lahistory.org/site21.php. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- ^ "C.B. Forgotston biographical sketch". forgotston.com. http://forgotston.com/2008/06/17/jindal-breaks-word-to-voters/. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ http://www.nsula.edu/folklife/database/biography/whittakerL.html
Further reading
- "John ... and Edward Newell", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 600
External links
- Newellton Progress Community Progress Site for Newellton, LA
- http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060520/NEWS01/605200312/1002
Municipalities and communities of Tensas Parish, Louisiana Towns Newellton | St. Joseph | Waterproof
Categories:- Towns in Louisiana
- Populated places in Tensas Parish, Louisiana
- Populated places in Louisiana with African American majority populations
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