Vernon Parish, the Land of Legends and No-Man’s Land on Louisiana's western border with Texas, was formed from portions of Natchitoches, Rapides, and Sabine Parishes in 1871. The town of Leesville is home to many historic places which make any visit richer. Founded with a population of 1300 at its incorporation in 1900, Leesville is the parish seat. Be sure to research all that there is to see and do because there is much to choose from.
Louisiana's Borderlands
Originally home to the Caddo Confederacy, through the 18th and 19th centuries this region answered to neither king nor country as it lies within a strip of land known as the Neutral Strip or No-Man’s Land that served as a buffer zone between the Louisiana territories and what is now Texas, but was initially claimed by the Spanish, then became part of Mexico, and finally became the new state of Texas. Fun fact: the designation of the Sabine River as the westernmost boundary of Louisiana with Texas was voted in the 18th century, but only ratified in 1921.
Signage at the Art Park
Placards at the Leesville Art Park introduce pioneering figures in the history of Western Louisiana.
The 1800s saw a boom in the timber market and mills were turning without cease, resulting in today’s prairie lands, with cattle herds replacing pine needles. Burr’s Ferry was an important crossing point used to drive cattle from Texas to Louisiana for sale and the resulting traffic helped the small town grow.
New Llano Cooperative Colony
Prior to World War I near Leesville, the New Llano Cooperative Colony socialist utopian colony was founded by a failed vice-presidential candidate named Job Harriman. There, a group of idealistic and ambitious families built a cooperative colony that lasted a generation. In 1917, two hundred Californians rode a chartered train from an already established colony near Los Angeles to Louisiana, and established their colony on 20,000 acres of cut-over timber land. During the 20 years that followed, the New Llano utopian colony stabilized and flourished, eventually counting as many as 1,000 members, earning the title of longest-lived socialist utopian colony in the country before finally being abandoned in 1939. To learn more about the fascinating history of this little-known Vernon Parish landmark, read the related article HERE.
The Museum of the New Llano Colony housed in the colony's former commissary.
Coming soon: Scheduled to reopen after renovations are complete, is the Museum of the New Llano Colony, which is housed in a building that once served as the commissary for the community.
Vintage fighting vehicles at Fort Johnson Military Museum
Fort Johnson Military Base
The impact of the Second World War on Leesville was profound. The establishment of the Fort Polk Army Base (officially renamed Fort Johnson in early 2023) would see the town built on the lumber industry, pivot toward the near 200,000-acre military base and the troops stationed there. As local lumber played out and Leesville evolved to support this important training ground for American soldiers, the region once known as No Man’s Land saw an influx not of pirates and pioneers but of those being trained for combat in Europe and the Pacific. Today the relationship between town and base remains strong, and lends Leesville a patriotic atmosphere clearly visible in its art, history, and monuments.
To learn more about the many-layered history of Vernon Parish, visit LegendCountry.com/HistoricPlaces
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