RICHLAND PARISH – Richland Parish was created on September 29, 1868, during the Reconstruction period and was named for the richness of its soil. John Ray, the Republican leader from Ouachita, introduced a bill calling for the creation of a new parish to be known as Richland. Democrats opposed the bill, asserting that it was a political strategy. Nevertheless, an act was passed creating Richland Parish, comprising contiguous portions of the parishes of Ouachita, Morehouse, Franklin, and Carroll. Rayville (previously known as Little Creek) was chosen as the seat of justice.

“By 1872, Richland Parish was well organized and the police jury contracted to build a new courthouse. The old building was sold to a black church organization that had it rolled down to the banks of Little Creek, an intermittent stream that flows behind the court square, and floated some ten miles downstream for use as a church. The courthouse erected in 1872 served the parish until 1951, when a new half-million-dollar building was constructed on the original court square.”

Leeper, Clare D’Artois. Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns, Cities, Plantations, Bayous, and Even Some Cemeteries. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2012. Print.

This is the old Richland Parish Courthouse. This picture is from 1949.

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