Little Creek (Richland) – Rayville was originally known as Little Creek, which took its name from the creek that flows through the town. James Ray established a store on the east side of the Boeuf River and west of Little Creek. Several settlers built houses near the store. After James Ray’s brother John succeeded in having Richland Parish created in 1871, Little Creek became Rayville and was made the parish seat. 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.
How Richland Parish’s LITTLE CREEK Got It’s Name
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.
Posted with BlogsyCategories: Historical Milestones, Little Creek, Rayville, Richland Pioneers
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