Almadane is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Vernon Parish, Louisiana Vernon Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Vernon'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 52,334. The parish seat is Leesville. Bordered on the west by the Sabine River, the parish was found ...

, United States. The community is located to the south of Evans and west of Rosepine on the western edge of Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area on the scenic Myths and Legends Byway.

Etymology

When the community was founded the first postmaster Daniel R. Knight needed to give the community a name. He decided to use his name combined the names of two other citizens. The names of the three men, Al Damereal, Mann Huddleston and Daniel R. Knight became ''Al-ma-dan''. The postmaster added an ''e'' to the end of the newly formed name and submitted the paperwork to the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

and it was accepted.

History

The settlement of Almadane was chosen due to the location on the Sabine River where it was possible for residents to send and receive goods by steamboat. The local lumber mills also made use of the river. They cut down nearby trees and hauled them to "Nacoco" Creek to be "rafted" and floated to the sawmills at

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Houst ...

. Early travel in Vernon Parish was very difficult and there were very few roads. There were many simple trails around the community. It was very difficult for farmers to travel to the local markets for buying and selling goods.

Early 20th century

After the turn of the century Capt. Samuel Allardyce moved to the community to manage the general store,

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

, and the

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

. In the 1920s the railroad replaced the steamboat as the most viable way to transport goods, the sawmills were closed, and many residents moved away to find work. The Almadane Plantation dog-trot house still marks the spot, nestled among a grove of centuries-old live oak trees. Today the old home is no longer on

Louisiana Highway 111 Louisiana Highway 111 (LA 111) is a state highway located in western Louisiana. It runs in a general north–south direction from U.S. Route 190 in Louisiana, U.S. Highway 190 (US 190) in Junction, Louisiana, Junction to Louisiana Highw ...

passing through the site. The Almadane Cemetery for black workers is located very near the river which once served as a major transportation route for the entire area.

References

Unincorporated communities in Vernon Parish, Louisiana Unincorporated communities in Louisiana {{Louisiana-geo-stub