Newellton, Louisiana

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Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 886 in the 2020 census, a decline of 596 persons, or 40 percent, from the 2000 tabulation of 1,482.<ref name=census>Template:Cite web</ref>

Newellton is west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake. Further south toward St. Joseph, the parish seat of government, is another ox-bow lake, Lake Bruin, a part of which is the popular Lake Bruin State Park.

History

Newellton itself was founded in the early 19th century by the Routh family, for whom the defunct Routhwood Elementary School was named. John David Stokes Newell Sr., a planter and lawyer in St. Joseph, the seat of Tensas Parish, named the settlement for his father, Edward D. Newell, a native of North Carolina who relocated to Tensas Parish in 1834.<ref name=newell>"John ... and Edward Newell", Louisiana Historical Association, A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 600</ref>

Newellton was designated a village in 1904. On April 4, 1951, under Mayor T. T. Hargrove, Newellton was upgraded to a town through the state Lawrason Act.<ref name=mayors>Template:Cite web</ref>

In March 2014, Newellton became debt-free.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (12.64%) is water.

Demographics

Template:US Census population

Newellton racial composition as of 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	198	22.35%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	645	72.8%
Other/Mixed	31	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	12	1.35%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 886 people, 403 households, and 245 families residing in the town.

Politics

In 2012, the former Newellton mayor, Democrat Alex Davis (born 1942), did not seek a fourth term. The first African American in the position, Davis unseated the 34-year incumbent Edwin G. Preis Sr.,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a white businessman, in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 7, 2000. Davis received 366 votes (56.8 percent) to Preis' 184 (28.6 percent), and Floyd Aaron "Coonie" McVay's 94 votes (14.6 percent).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A native of Oak Grove in West Carroll Parish, McVay was formerly the Newellton police chief. He died in 2012 at the age of eighty.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The current mayor is Democrat Timothy Durell Turner, the former District 1 alderman, who won the election held on December 8, 2012, by a single vote, 217–216, over the Republican candidate, James Carroll Fuller Sr. (1936–2021), the former District 5 alderman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fuller had led Turner, 259 (44.7 percent) to 207 (35.8 percent), in the higher-turnout primary election held on November 6, with another 113 votes (19.5 percent) then cast for a second Democrat, Knola Ransome.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2016, Fuller again challenged Turner and once again lost by one vote, 210 for Fuller and 211 for Turner.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Fuller earlier was among 582 Louisiana elected officials named to former Governor Bobby Jindal's "Kitchen Cabinet Leadership Team". Two other Tensas Parish officials appointed to the panel were Assessor Irby Gamble and Coroner Keith D. Butler, both of St. Joseph.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

Andrew F. Brimmer (1926–2012), economist and first African American to serve as governor of the Federal Reserve System who was born in Newellton
Sarah Dorsey, author, historian, and benefactor of Jefferson Davis, lived at the Routh Plantation near Newellton in the early 1850s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
C.B. Forgotston (born in Newellton in 1945; died 2016) was a lawyer in Hammond and a state government watchdog and political activist. Forgotston graduated from Newellton High School in 1962.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was a frequent guest on The Moon Griffon Show radio talk program.
Clyde V. Ratcliff (1879–1952), member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1944 to 1948; planter in Newellton<ref>Obituary of Clyde V. Ratcliff Sr., Tensas Gazette, October 8, 1952</ref>
Thomas M. Wade (1860–1929), member of Louisiana House of Representatives from 1888 to 1904, Louisiana State Board of Education, and Tensas Parish School Board; Tensas school superintendent for some twenty years after 1904<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Gallery

Numerous businesses in downtown Newellton have been closed for many years.
The Tensas State Bank building in Newellton
U.S. Post Office at 930 Verona Street in Newellton
Newellton Grain Elevator
Winter Quarters State Historic Site near Newellton
Dixie Dandy grocery has existed in Newellton since 1967.
The Newellton Place Apartments is among newer housing available in Newellton.
The historic Newellton Union Church (established 1890) is a nondenominational congregation at 1916 Highway 605.
First Baptist Church at 1822 Highway 605 in Newellton (2008 photo)
Renovated First Baptist Church (2010 photo)
The former Newellton High School now houses Newellton Elementary at 400 Verona Street.
The abandoned former Routhwood Elementary School in Newellton
Abandoned Tensas Medical Center on Verona Street in Newellton
Legion Memorial Cemetery off Louisiana Highway 605 north of Newellton, was established in 1943.