Bastrop, Louisiana

Bastrop was founded by Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, 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, 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.[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 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]

Bastrop is located in western Morehouse Parish at 32°46′40″N 91°54′54″W (32.777855, −91.914944).[7] It is situated at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 425 and U.S. Highway 165. US 165 passes through the city as Madison Avenue, leading east 7 miles (11 km) to Mer Rouge and southwest 25 miles (40 km) to Monroe. US 425 leaves Bastrop to the east with US 165 but leaves the city to the north on Washington Street, where the next town to the north is Hamburg, Arkansas, 33 miles (53 km) away. Louisian Highways 2 and 139 also run through the town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Bastrop has a total area of 8.59 square miles (22.2 km²), all of it recorded as land.[1] Bayou Bartholomew passes just west of the city limits, flowing southwest to the Ouachita River near Sterlington.

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 9,691 people, 3,834 households, and 2,273 families residing in the city.

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.[11] 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".[12][13][14]

Bastrop is governed by a mayor and board of aldermen.[20]

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.[21]

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 June 17, 2021, Betty Alford-Olive was inaugurated as mayor of Bastrop, Louisiana.

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

• Ronnie Coleman, professional bodybuilder
• Bill Dickey, Major League Baseball Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees
• 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
• Stacey Hawkins, United States Air Force major general
• Ed Head, Major League Baseball player who died in Bastrop
• Mable John, Motown Records singer born in Bastrop
• Jim Looney, NFL player
• Bob Love, NBA basketball player
• 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, led Bastrop High School to a state championship, was drafted by the New York Giants in 2012
• Shane Reynolds, Major League Baseball player[25]
• John Wesley Ryles, country music singer born in Bastrop in 1950
• Talance Sawyer, played for the Minnesota Vikings; born in Bastrop
• Dylan Scott, country music singer-songwriter
• Pat Williams, NFL player (Minnesota Vikings); born in Bastrop
• Hulon B. Whittington, Medal of Honor recipient

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bastrop, Louisiana.

• Official website
• Morehouse Parish Schools