Midland (french: Moyen-Terre) is a farming

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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Acadia Parish, Louisiana Acadia Parish (french: link=no, Paroisse de l'Acadie) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 57,576. The parish seat is Crowley, L ...

, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 249. It is located at the intersection of

U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

and

Louisiana Highway 91 Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. It is also located at the intersection of the former

Louisiana Western Railroad Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

(later a

Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

subsidiary and now a joint

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

line) and its branches to

Eunice Eunice is a feminine given name, from the Greek Εὐνίκη, ''Euníkē'', from "eu", good, and "níkē", victory. Eunice is also a relatively rare last name, found in Nigeria and the Southeastern United States, chiefly Louisiana and Georgia. Pe ...

and Gueydan. The community is part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Some people say it was given its name because it was the halfway point on the old railroad running westward from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Midland first appeared on an Acadia Parish map as Midland Junction. During the 1870s, Frank Quebodeaux operated a horse-and-buggy ferry over Bayou Plaquemine Brûlée built of cypress logs and was hauled across the bayou by ropes. In 1896, the railroad was extended from Midland to

Gueydan, Louisiana Gueydan (local pronunciation e(ɪ)dɔ̃ is a town in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,398 at the 2010 census, down from 1,598 in 2000. At the 2020 population estimates program, its population decreased to 1,328. ...

and then from Gueydan to Abbeville, Louisiana in 1902. Southern Pacific began plans to put a railroad roundhouse at Midland due to Charles H. Cowen, one of the area's most successful rice farmers, developing the town. Cowen was an

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

native who bought of land in the Midland area in 1892, and bought another shortly after that. In 1902, he formed the Midland Development Co. and the Midland Rice Milling Co.. and on April 22 of that year, sold 156 town lots at auction. After Cowen lost a leg in a rice threshing accident and died soon after, Southern Pacific withdrew plans to place a roundhouse in Midland. Midland's first post office was opened on June 13, 1902, in the Callahan general store, with Eugene T. Callahan as postmaster. The first school at Midland was established in 1903.

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

References

Unincorporated communities in Acadia Parish, Louisiana Acadiana Census-designated places in Acadia Parish, Louisiana Populated places established in 1902 {{Louisiana-geo-stub

History

Demographics

2020 census

See also

References