Greenwood

Greenwood was home to the Caddo Indians on the south side of Boggy Bayou, and their trail led through present-day Greenwood to Cross Lake. At least one Indian chief is the inhabitant of an unmarked grave in a local graveyard. 1

Dr. Alfred Flournoy, one of the first citizens, settled here in 1836. He had been in the Battle of Pensacola in the War of 1812, where he lost a leg. Afterward he went to New Orleans, where he was helped by Andrew Jackson, a family friend, and attended by Rachel Jackson. The Jackson's got him to Natchez, and from there he headed to his home in Tennessee. In the 1820s he returned to Louisiana, and in 1836 he staked off land in Greenwood, not acquiring the title until the government surveyed Greenwood two years later. 2

Most of the settlers came from Tennessee, though some came from Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. These pioneers, not typical of the area, had rosewood furniture in their parlors and peacocks in their yards. 3

Texas had gained its independence from Mexico in 1836, but did not immediately gain statehood.  It served as the Republic of Texas, and as it lacked a post office, mail was sent to Greenwood and marked “Hold for Texas.”  Residents of the Republic of Texas visited the area twice a year to collect their mail.  4 Greenwood petitioned Congress in 1844 to annex the Republic of Texas.  Flournoy wrote the petition and was the first of 125 signatures made by the prominent citizens of the parish. Flournoy’s goal was to have more Congressional power in the South. 5

William Littlejohn, a native of North Carolina, established a trading post with the Indians at the northeast corner of the present-day intersection of Mooringsport Road and U. S. Highway 80 in 1838. In 1839 he owned Section 23, in which the town is located. He died in Greenwood in 1850 and is buried in an unmarked grave. 6

In 1841 the Greenwood Town Company wanted to plat the town and sell lots. The organizers included Littlejohn, Flournoy, Samuel Greenwood, Dr. Samuel Nixon, Caleb Eubanks, Charles A. Edwards, James H. Cane, William L. Lewis, Benjamin W. Bedford, John G. Jones, and Daniel W. Edgely. 7 The Greenwood Town Company ambitiously planned for Greenwood to serve as the parish seat and gave their public square as the future site of the courthouse. Shreveport won out as the head of the parish, but Greenwood served as a holding place for the parish records for a few days in 1864 when the Union troops were threatening Shreveport during the Civil War. 8

In the 1850s, Greenwood was a flourishing town.  Nearly 100 wagons, pulled by eight to ten oxen, visited the area each day. 9 These wagon trains brought cotton from Texas and bought supplies. 10 The up-and-coming town had a tanning yard, a distillery, a foundry and machine shop, three brick yards, a plow and wagon factory, a blacksmith and tin shop, two two-story schools, seven stores, three saloons, a Masonic lodge, two cotton gins, a saddlery, and the expertise of five doctors. 11 Lack of reverence to the ladies of the town was not tolerated. Without ceremony, the offender would be shot or challenged on the spot. Records from this time verify that these actions were taken and that attorneys remained inactive in such a situation. 12

As the town was determined to have a hotel, William Garret built a two-and-one-half-story hotel in 1857 at the corner of the wagon road to the west (present day U. S. Highway 80) and Magnolia Street. 13  The hotel had fifteen rooms and a large ballroom.  After the Battle of Mansfield during the Civil War, it served as a hospital.  Shortly afterward it was sold and in about 1866 converted into a residence for William Culp Agurs.  In 1916 it was demolished.  14

Only a Methodist church was established, although the settlers also included Episcopalians, Baptists, and Presbyterians.  The Methodist society was established as early as 1841 with the church being incorporated in 1849.  A Baptist church was built later. 15

          A survey made in that year shows the Shreveport Road leading northeast to connect with the Texas Road. The road heading southwest was called Walden’s Ferry Road, which led to Walden’s Ferry and crossed the Sabine River. 16 Until the late 1920s, the streets of Greenwood went unpaved and wooden planks were laid out along the roads for makeshift sidewalks. In the 1920’s two cotton gins stood in Greenwood, and the cotton was shipped by railroad with the tracks running next to the gin. The cotton production declined in the 1930’s. 17

The unmarked grave of William Davis, the only Revolutionary War veteran in Caddo Parish, was discovered in an overgrown site of Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery south of Greenwood. Apparently Davis’s grave was moved to Caddo Parish in 1839. 18

 SCHOOLS

         The first school building in Caddo Parish stood on a ten-acre tract in Greenwood. It was chartered in 1838, the year the parish was formed, and served as the only operating school in the parish until 1845. The Trustees donated the school to the parish as a public school in 1849. A new building was completed in 1909, and in the 1920s additions were made that nearly doubled the size of the school. 19 Although the school had an early establishment, its first graduating class was not until 1922. 20 The school consisted of two floors with four rooms per floor. The grade school was on the first floor, and the high school occupied the upper floor. Students from Waskom, Texas and Bethany, Louisiana were known to attend. 21 Greenwood High School closed its doors in 1960 and the First Baptist Church of Greenwood bought the site. 22 The older portion of the school, which was located at the center of this structure by this time, was demolished.23

FIRE DEPARTMENT

The dedication of Greenwood Fire District No. 3 occurred on February 13, 1988 in front of the new 6,000-square-foot building at 8891 U. S. Highway 80.  The new building is about three blocks east of the original 2,000-square-foot structure. The fire district has three engines, two rescue trucks, a tank truck, and a special response vehicle to serve Greenwood and the areas to the south and west of the town. The $200,000 structure features living and sleeping quarters as well as an office for the dispatcher. A tribute was made to the late Bill Payne, a former chairman of the fire district board who worked diligently to have a new station constructed. He died in December of 1987, but his widow, Frances Payne, was present to cut the ribbon. There are six full-time and nine part-time firefighters along with the local volunteer fire department. 24

PIONEER DAYS FESTIVAL

The Greenwood Pioneer Club, incorporated in 1985 as the official tourism society for the town, sponsors the three-day Pioneer Days Festival that was formerly sponsored by the now obsolete Greenwood Riding Club.  The festival features a parade, live bands, cloggers, a turtle race, and a historic tour of the town. A mockery bank robbery and shootout also occurs. 25

Whitworth Home –  first brick home in Caddo Parish located about 3 miles west of Greenwood.

 

References

                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                           

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Parish of Caddo 2004©