Woodworth, Louisiana

Woodworth was established in 1942 under the Lawrason Act.[3]

The town began with a small population in the 1880’s with the first significant resident being George Hendricks from Arkansas who allegedly built a rice farm in the village, but later found himself unsuccessful and left.

The town's growth did not yet stop, as a businessman named John McEnery came from New Orleans, LA and brought his railroad company (New Orleans Pacific Railroad) with him. McEnery did not have this land for long however as he later sold it, and on November 25, 1890, the 18,000 acres of land were sold to three people: C. E. Roberts, C. S. Woodworth, and Ed Rand all of whom were from neighboring state of Texas. The three men had yet to explore this land but established the Rapides Lumber Company in the village, constructing a sawmill. The name of this town originates from C. S. Woodworth’s name of whom the company decided the community should be named after.`

Soon after the sawmill was constructed, a Missouri located company bought out positions of the lumber company being those held by C. S. Woodworth and C. E. Roberts, but Rand kept his position. Because of these transfers, the company was renamed to the Long-Bell Lumber Company of Woodworth. By the early 1900’s, the town of Woodworth had reached a population of roughly 1,000, while continuous expansion of the town's businesses and services began, which oversaw the construction of churches and commercial businesses in the town. As this happened, the first Catholic Church was constructed in Woodworth after Bishop Van de Ven blessed a chapel in the town. The land where this chapel was had later been owned by Richard and Edward Butler, which then was passed over to Henry Butler on November 19, 1908. On June 15, 1911, the 2 acre land was finally inherited by Bishop Van de Ven. The Butler family is related to the current leading Woodworth political family, the Butlers. The Butler family is currently overseeing David Butler as mayor of the town.

As this church continued to grow, so did the population. The Catholic Church invited the large Catholic population of Rapides Parish towards Woodworth after the exponential growth of the sawmill. This also attracted a certain Catholic family, the Moore family, which was a family consisting of a former slave and the descendants of the freed slave. Alvah Joseph Moore moved to the town in the early 1900's, and was a prominent saw mill operator and musician who played in the Woodworth Band. Moore and his family wrote recollections of the era in Woodworth and their life in the town. During the period of Catholic migration to the town, the Ku Klux Klan also rose to prominence in the town, as conflicts between the two groups began arising in the town, which eventually was put to a stop after the sawmill company intervened.

After the conflicts between the Catholics and Ku Klux Klan ended, the sawmill eventually began seeing less and less production in the region and eventually moved out in 1926, leaving the land barren until restoration during the Civilian Conservation Corps program. The Catholic church was relocated to Reddell, Louisiana which signaled the loss of many Catholic residents of the town.

Following the closure of the sawmill, and the relocation of several Catholic residents, the town seemed to stop growing until the war era. As of now, Catholic residents were attending St. Martin's Church in Lecompte, Louisiana Following the closure of the church, Father Gerard J. Ducote, the second pastor of Cabrini, sent a letter to Bishop Charles P. Greco saying: "I understand from Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Moore that there have been no Catholic services in Woodworth since about 1927, the year in which they left the community to reside in Alexandria, and that the reason why so many of these people have not continued active affiliation with the Church was because of resentment that their Church had been dismantled and moved away - a measure of protest over the action." The Catholic Churches were then promised double attendance, which was reached but mainly as result of the heavy growth of Camp Claiborne inhabitants.[4]

Camp Claiborne was also formed in Louisiana and rose to higher prominence during World War II, where over half a million men circulated through the camp. The camp oversaw the Louisiana Maneuvers training which was led by many prominent military and later political members including General Omar Bradley, General Ben Lear, and Walter Krueger, just to name a few. Eventually, this camp was then used for German military POWs. After the war, the camp was acquired by the United States Forest Service. The United States Army Corps of Engineers also has jurisdiction there regarding unexploded ordnance[5][6] [7]

Woodworth is located at 31°9′23″N 92°29′41″W (31.156270, -92.494650).[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.9 square miles (13 km²), of which 4.9 square miles (12.7 km²) is land and 0.20% is water.

Woodworth is among 250 towns and villages in Louisiana with a Mayors court[15] as provided by R.S. 33:44l and 442.[16]

• Town of Woodworth