The creation of what would become Mossville, LA, was a fervent prayer for isolation, the overwhelming, overriding longing of a newly-freed people to be left alone.
A Forgotten Community- A History of Mossville
The creation of what would become Mossville, Louisiana was a fervant prayer for isolation, the overwhelming longing of a newly-freed people to be left alone. Mossville became a small, rural community, never-incorporated. It was insulated by design, predicated on agriculture, livestock, fish, game - and each other. Only religious determinism was as centrist and important.
Journalist Bill Shearman conducted over 40 interviews while compiling this well-researched history of the area & its original settlers. The community’s development is documented up to its present-day absorption into the local petro-chemical complex. Included are many personal photos & an appendix of well known families, along with an index of 162 local family names.
... Moss reportedly had 57 slaves at the end of the Civl War. “Y’all are free now,” Moss said. “You can work for yourselves.” - He gave them all squatter’s rights to lands he owned north of Bayou D’Inde near the intersection of Prater Road & Old Spanish Trail.
“... The Istak Atakapa Indians were a tribe indigenous to Calcasieu Parish. In the 1800’s they settled on Prien Lake waterfront lands where they could fish and gather shellfish & crabs for sustenance. By 1909, what remained of the Atakapa had moved inland from the present-day Prien Lake Park area. They were invited to move to Mossville, a short canoe ride across Prien Lake and up Bayou D’Inde, by the then Mossville citizens.”
... Lincoln Heights subdivision in 1955 consisted of 134 lots, approximately 50 by 124 feet each. “On Sundays, Daddy and I would jump into his Buick Electra and drive to Mossville. We would meet Wasey Rigmaiden who was caretaker and he would hand us dozens of eggs & cash in an envelope. Daddy would meet with individual homeowners and sympathize with them when they were in a jam. We would sometimes get a huge bag of pecans.”
Bill Shearman has been in the newspaper industry or some vestige of journalism throughout his career. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (Social Studies, 70’) and a MBA (96’) from McNeese State University. He also earned a graduate degree (M.S., 82’) from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is retired from the Manship School of Mass Communications at Louisiana State University (LSU).
114 pages
8.5x11 Paperback
Illustrations and Photos: Black and White and Color Photographs
Index: Names of those interviewed
ISBN: 978-1-68593-009-7
Published: 2017