Sugartown, Louisiana
Encyclopedia
Sugartown is an unincorporated community
in Beauregard Parish
, Louisiana
, United States
, approximately 16 miles from DeRidder. The geographical center of Sugartown today is posted as the intersection of LA 112
and La 113
. The original community would have been much larger.
is provided by the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office and the Louisiana State Police
patrol the state highway's.
which is used to make cane syrup. The Citrullus Valgarus now referred to as Citrullus lanatus variety grown in Sugartown is the Crimson sweet. The parentage of the Crimson Sweet watermelon is the Miles/Peacock and Charleston Gray. Most watermelons in the U.S. have some Charleston Grey in them. The Charlee is touted to have better flavor than that of Charleston Gray, Crimson Sweet and Jubilee, but fans of the Crimson Sweet would argue this. Hybrid versions are the Crisby, Crimson Tide, and Crimson Trio. Other varieties are the Johnson, Jubilie, and the hybrid Jubilation.
The Crimson Sweet watermelon is light green with dark stripes, averages 12 to 25 pounds with very red flesh, and is very sweet with 12% sugar content while the average watermelon has approximately 6%.
industry. From the early 19th century to the 1920s timber companies owned large tracks of land and would clear cut the hugh virgin pines. When the pines were cut out the saw mills would move and the towns would dry up. Pine stumps, and those referred to as rich lighter
, were and are still harvested today. With replanting of trees the timber industry is still thriving with harvested wood delivered to saw mills and the Boise Cascade paper mill in DeRidder
, school, churches, racetrack, saloons and boarding houses, as well as several stores, supply houses and the doctor's office. Although never legally incorporated, Sugartown was the center of organized community life, the recognized trade, business and economic center of the area, and its people set the pace in establishing social customs, educational facilities and leadership in bring law and order on the frontier.
west of the Calcasieu River
operated more than 40 years, the first school, the earliest cemetery, and the earliest church are among a list of things that were "first" in the area.
, Ministry, Education
, Government
and Business
. Their influence is still felt today in many fields of Public service
.
. The village was first a way-station and overnight camping stop for travellers because Sugar Creek
is easy to ford at this point.
Sugartown eventually became the major stopping point on the well-travelled and direct route from Lake Charles
to Alexandria
. Large cattle drives were made along this route from the holding point near at what is now the DeRidder airport to the rail shipping point at Lecompt
.
an unwatched pot cooked too long, turning the boiling syrup into sugar.
everything that was used for food, clothing, farming and other tasks was made at home. Every farm house had a Spinning wheel
and a Loom
for weaving cloth. All cooking was done on an open fireplace and Pine knots and Tallow candles provided light.
Mail
From about 1820 to 1840, mail had to be picked up at Belgrade, Texas at the Sabine River Boat Landing below Merryville. But in 1841 a post office
was established at Sugartown with weekly deliveries by horseback from Lake Charles
via Petersburg. The Pony Express
ran out of Lake Charles and served the area for a period of time.
that is a historical site named "Old Campground Cemetery" and is one of the oldest cemeteries in the parish and what was once called "Old Imperial" Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It is situated near the site of an ancient ford crossing of Sugar Creek and a way station where the pioneers of early 19th century camped and rested before resuming their journeys to the West.
and DeRidder. Had any of these mills or rail lines been built at Sugartown, it probably would have retained its prominent role as the leader and Queen City of the Frontier.
The watermelons, still grown in the area, referred to as Sugartown Melons, are now mostly hybrids bred to endure shipping. There are some growers that still stick with the origin melon. Most people do not know that the original Sugartown melon is a Crimson Sweet. As long as a melon is relatively sweet most that grow them call them Sugartown melons, regardless of being raised in Pitkin (Vernon Parish) or Elizebeth (Allen Parish).
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Beauregard Parish
Beauregard Parish, Louisiana
Beauregard Parish [p] is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Beauregard Parish was formed on 1 January 1913. The parish seat is DeRidder. As of 2000, the population was 32,986. Beauregard Parish is part of the DeRidder Micropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Fort Polk...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, approximately 16 miles from DeRidder. The geographical center of Sugartown today is posted as the intersection of LA 112
Louisiana Highway 112
Louisiana Highway 112 is a state highway in Louisiana. It spans and runs from west to east. LA 112 is a mostly rural two lane highway with a maximum speed limit of per hour. The western terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 171/U.S. Route 190 in Beauregard Parish and the eastern...
and La 113
Louisiana Highway 113
Louisiana Highway 113 is a state highway in Louisiana. It spans and runs from South to north. LA 113 is a mostly rural two lane highway with a maximum speed limit of per hour and a minimum of as slow as per hour in some sharp curves. The southern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. 190 in...
. The original community would have been much larger.
Governing body and Law
The governing body for Sugartown is the Beauregard Parish Police Jury with DeRidder as the Parish seat. Law enforcementLaw enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
is provided by the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office and the Louisiana State Police
Louisiana State Police
The Louisiana State Police is the state police department of Louisiana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state, headquartered in Baton Rouge. It was created to protect the lives, property and constitutional rights of people in Louisiana. It falls under the authority of the Louisiana...
patrol the state highway's.
Sugartown melons
The Sugartown area is famous for its Watermelons in Louisiana as well as the connecting states. The sandy soil is good for growing watermelons as well as sugarcaneSugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
which is used to make cane syrup. The Citrullus Valgarus now referred to as Citrullus lanatus variety grown in Sugartown is the Crimson sweet. The parentage of the Crimson Sweet watermelon is the Miles/Peacock and Charleston Gray. Most watermelons in the U.S. have some Charleston Grey in them. The Charlee is touted to have better flavor than that of Charleston Gray, Crimson Sweet and Jubilee, but fans of the Crimson Sweet would argue this. Hybrid versions are the Crisby, Crimson Tide, and Crimson Trio. Other varieties are the Johnson, Jubilie, and the hybrid Jubilation.
The Crimson Sweet watermelon is light green with dark stripes, averages 12 to 25 pounds with very red flesh, and is very sweet with 12% sugar content while the average watermelon has approximately 6%.
Timber industry
Many acres are planted with trees which contributes to the parish economy because of the timberTimber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
industry. From the early 19th century to the 1920s timber companies owned large tracks of land and would clear cut the hugh virgin pines. When the pines were cut out the saw mills would move and the towns would dry up. Pine stumps, and those referred to as rich lighter
Fatwood
Fatwood, also known as "fat lighter," "lighter wood", "rich lighter", "pine knot","heart pine" or "lighter'd" , is derived from the heartwood of pine trees. This resin-impregnated heartwood becomes hard and rot-resistant. The stump left in the ground after a tree has fallen or has been cut is an...
, were and are still harvested today. With replanting of trees the timber industry is still thriving with harvested wood delivered to saw mills and the Boise Cascade paper mill in DeRidder
History
Although some individual families had come into the lower Calcasieu region earlier, the first permanent settlement in Southwest Louisiana was at Sugartown, when several families arrived more or less simultaneously between 1816–1818. They built the first home on scattered farm sites around what was a natural location for the town of Sugartown. Sugartown was located in the area known as the Neutral strip from 1806 until 1821.Booming community
At the turn of the 20th century there also existed in Sugartown a Masonic LodgeMasonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
, school, churches, racetrack, saloons and boarding houses, as well as several stores, supply houses and the doctor's office. Although never legally incorporated, Sugartown was the center of organized community life, the recognized trade, business and economic center of the area, and its people set the pace in establishing social customs, educational facilities and leadership in bring law and order on the frontier.
Leader in being first
Sugartown was one of the earliest settlements in the area. The home of the first state legislator authorized for the district, the first Cotton ginCotton gin
A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...
west of the Calcasieu River
Calcasieu River
The Calcasieu River is a river on the Gulf Coast of southwestern Louisiana, U.S.A.. Approximately long, it drains a largely rural area of forests and bayou country, meandering southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The name "Calcasieu" comes from the Native American Atakapa language katkosh, for...
operated more than 40 years, the first school, the earliest cemetery, and the earliest church are among a list of things that were "first" in the area.
First school
The most important achievement was the establishment of the Sugartown Male and Female Academy in 1870. This school, it is felt by many, marked the beginning of the educational system of Southwest Louisiana. W.H. Baldwin, a graduate of Columbia University, was its first professor. Pupils came to him from nine to ten parishes in Louisiana and from several counties in East Texas. The role of graduates and their accomplishments is amazing. They became leaders in MedicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, Ministry, Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, Government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
and Business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
. Their influence is still felt today in many fields of Public service
Public services
Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...
.
Township
The Sugartown township was first surveyed in 1807, after the Louisiana PurchaseLouisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
. The village was first a way-station and overnight camping stop for travellers because Sugar Creek
Sugar Creek
Sugar Creek may refer to:In communities:*Sugar Creek, Indiana, a small town in Shelby County, Indiana*Sugar Creek, Iowa, a township in Poweshiek County, Iowa*Sugar Creek, Missouri, a city in Jackson County, Missouri...
is easy to ford at this point.
Sugartown eventually became the major stopping point on the well-travelled and direct route from Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
to Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
. Large cattle drives were made along this route from the holding point near at what is now the DeRidder airport to the rail shipping point at Lecompt
Lecompte, Louisiana
Lecompte is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,366 at the 2000 census....
.
Community name
There are a few stories as to how Sugartown got its name. The first is that a wagon overturned while crossing the creek spilling its expensive and delicious cargo into the creek giving birth to both the name of the creek and the town. The second story is that during a cook-offCook-off
A cook-off is a cooking competition where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public...
an unwatched pot cooked too long, turning the boiling syrup into sugar.
Early life
The early settlers were almost entirely self sufficient. Until after the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
everything that was used for food, clothing, farming and other tasks was made at home. Every farm house had a Spinning wheel
Spinning wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...
and a Loom
Loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
for weaving cloth. All cooking was done on an open fireplace and Pine knots and Tallow candles provided light.
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was established at Sugartown with weekly deliveries by horseback from Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
via Petersburg. The Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
ran out of Lake Charles and served the area for a period of time.
Old cemetery
The early settlers are buried in a cemeteryCemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
that is a historical site named "Old Campground Cemetery" and is one of the oldest cemeteries in the parish and what was once called "Old Imperial" Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It is situated near the site of an ancient ford crossing of Sugar Creek and a way station where the pioneers of early 19th century camped and rested before resuming their journeys to the West.
End of the Queen City
The population of Sugartown began to dwindle and businesses moved away when the railroads were laid to serve the busy sawmill towns of Bon Ami, Ludington, FullertonFullerton, Louisiana
Fullerton is an unincorporated community in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. Fullerton was once an industrial community based around a large lumber mill...
and DeRidder. Had any of these mills or rail lines been built at Sugartown, it probably would have retained its prominent role as the leader and Queen City of the Frontier.
Sugartown today
The community of Sugartown today is just the name of a community. There is one building, and a cemetery along with a few residences, in what was Sugartown proper. Buildings on both sides of the highway (through the community) have now burned down.The watermelons, still grown in the area, referred to as Sugartown Melons, are now mostly hybrids bred to endure shipping. There are some growers that still stick with the origin melon. Most people do not know that the original Sugartown melon is a Crimson Sweet. As long as a melon is relatively sweet most that grow them call them Sugartown melons, regardless of being raised in Pitkin (Vernon Parish) or Elizebeth (Allen Parish).