Discover the characters who shaped the Louisiana we know and love today through the small-town museums, historic sites, and roadside landmarks that exist to preserve what they left behind. Meander along Vernon Parish’s scenic country roads and learn a thing or two about the fascinating origins of Louisiana's Legend Country.
Explore the livelihoods, legends, and locations that continue to fuel local lore along the Myths and Legends Byway. This drive celebrates the “badlands” of the disputed territory between Spain and the United States. For a few years, this slice of western Louisiana belonged to neither country while politicians argued over borders, so it attracted renegades and pirates who enjoyed free rein without the intervention of law. Today, the region stretches north from Lake Charles almost to Shreveport, and includes Toledo Bend Lake. No Man’s Land, also called the “Neutral Strip,” just celebrated its bicentennial anniversary.
One particularly noteworthy local attraction is the Museum of the New Llano Colony, which acts as a time capsule for the 1917 experiment of two hundred settlers from California. In Louisiana, they found a spacious Southern landing pad for the self-sustaining society they were trying to build, and somewhere in the former timber land they found a sort of staying power, eventually outliving other utopian socialist communities of the time.
Vernon Parish is awash in old cemeteries, including Talbert-Pierson Cemetery in Cravens, a tranquil family graveyard likely established in the 1860s. Thirteen surviving graves are covered by unusual structures called wooden grave houses, an antiquated tradition in the upland South. Constructed with picket fences and tin roofs, each structure acts as a shelter to the grave it covers. The fence pickets were made from native trees from the forested areas nearby, and are carved with unique designs. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this compelling site is one of the most fascinating cemeteries you’ll ever visit.
Except, that is, for others you find here. Venture to Anacoco’s Old Mitchell Graveyard, the first known cemetery in Vernon Parish and the final resting place of two Revolutionary War soldiers. Then, explore Leesville Cemetery for a look at nineteenth century arched brick grave houses, another version of the compelling grave house tradition. Don’t miss the quiet beauty of Holly Grove Methodist Church, also in Anacoco. Established in 1834, it is believed to be the oldest continuously operating church west of the Mississippi River.
Vernon Parish is home to Fort Polk, a key U.S. Army base and site of the elite national Joint Readiness Training Center. A visit to the parish isn’t complete without a stop at the Fort Polk Military Museum. Explore the base’s critical role in preparing American troops through fascinating exhibits and artifacts that reveal the contributions Fork Polk has made to the cause of freedom since 1940. The museum is free and open to the public.
Don’t miss a chance to explore the parish seat, Leesville, and its history as a sawmill hub. Leesville’s revitalized downtown, part of the Main Street America program, is chock-full of shops, restaurants and historic sites, as well as fascinating examples of period architecture. Start at the Museum of West Louisiana, housed in the former Kansas City Southern Railroad Depot, and learn more about how this part of the Bayou State converted pine timber to wood products and shipped them nationwide. (The museum, which has been temporarily closed for construction post-Ida, is slated to reopen in April 2022.)
Saunter down First Street to view Vernon Parish’s oldest building, the Smart Plantation House, built in 1855 and emblematic of the Southern Planter architectural style. On Third Street, home to many commercial buildings, take in the grandeur of the 1910 Vernon Parish Courthouse, the parish’s only Beaux-Arts building and known for its distinct X-shape, created by diagonally-oriented wings on each side. Also on Third Street, don’t miss the Italianate Lyons Building, the former home of Lenahan’s Department Store and one of the most elegant buildings in Leesville. legendcountry.com.
Sponsored by Vernon Parish Tourism
