Midland () is a farming

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

Acadia Parish, Louisiana Acadia Parish () is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 57,576. The parish seat and the most populous municipality is Crowley. The parish was founded from parts of St. Landry Parish in ...

, 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. It generally travels near Int ...

and Louisiana Highway 91. It is also located at the intersection of the former Louisiana Western Railroad (later a

Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) 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 names ...

subsidiary and now a joint

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

line) and its branches to Eunice 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 (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. 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 Bayou Plaquemine Brulé ( ; historically spelled ''Plakemine''; translating to "burnt persimmon bayou") is a waterway in the Mermentau River basin of south Louisiana. The bayou is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-re ...

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, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,398 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 1,598 in 2000 United States Census ...

and then from Gueydan to

Abbeville, Louisiana Abbeville is a city in, and the parish seat of, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. At the 2020 Population Estimates Program, populat ...

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. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

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

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