I grew up in Tensas Parish, in Louisiana. Here’s what was going on in 1886. It was the primary area in the state for growing cotton, but see what they had to say about “mechanical cotton pickers”. And let’s not forget the scheduled [censored] fight and the very popular saloon and billiards hall.

The parish is named after the Tensas Indians, though Tensas was spelled differently.

Cool history. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing.

I know Tensas Parish well. Raised a couple of Parishes away. Interesting fact is Tensas Parish has either the lowest or second lowest population of any Parish in the state.

Big Hutch

Yep! I grew up in Waterproof, the southernmost town in the Parish, and there were 1500 people. The little town had all the stores and shops, a movie theater and a Dairy Queen and businesses were doing very well. Then came Walmart and better highways, and the town died. Last I heard, the population consisted of a few hundred people. One old white woman is all that’s left of that demographic. As the kids, black and white, left high school, they went to college or the big city and never came back (like me). It was a nice little town, just like the hundreds of nice little Texas towns that have disappeared.

My youngest sister is the head of the Natchez Historical Society, and sends me a lot of info from that area of Mississippi and Louisiana.