Winnsboro is a town in, and the

parish seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

Franklin Parish, Louisiana Franklin Parish (, ) is a parish located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020, its population was 19,774. The parish seat and the most populous municipality is Winnsboro. The parish was founded in 1843 a ...

, United States. As of 2020, its population was 4,862.

History

Franklin Parish was created on March 1, 1843, from portions of Ouachita, Catahoula, and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

parishes through the efforts of Louisiana Senator John Winn. Land for a centrally located parish seat, Winnsborough (later Winnsboro), was purchased in 1844. It was designated as the parish seat of government in 1846 and incorporated on March 18, 1902. Early Winnsboro City records show that the telephone came to Winnsboro in 1905; electricity in 1914; and water and sewer service in 1923. In 1924, a volunteer fire department was formed. Most of the community's streets were hard surfaced after 1950.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.49%, is water.

Climate

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,862 people, 1,504 households, and 1,007 families residing in the town.

Economy

The economic base of Winnsboro consists of companies in the apparel, boat manufacturing, bottling and food products industries, aviation, healthcare, agriculture and agricultural related industries. There is a large

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

Arts and culture

A post office, built in 1936, featured a New Deal program mural, ''Logging in Louisiana Swamps'' (1939), by

Datus Ensign Myers Datus Ensign Myers (1879–1960) was a Santa Fe, New Mexico based artist. Early life and education Myers was born September 29, 1879, in Jefferson, Oregon. He attended the Chouinard School of Art and the Chicago Art Institute. Work Myers and h ...

. The building now contains the Old Post Office Museum. The Princess Theatre was built in 1907, closed in 1988, and reopened as a live performance venue in 1994.

Education

Public schools

Public education in Winnsboro is managed by the Franklin Parish School Board. There are two schools: * Franklin Parish High School and Winnsboro Elementary School Franklin Parish High formed in 2005 with the consolidations of Crowville and Winnsboro high schools.

Private schools

* Franklin Academy was founded in 1970. * Family Community Christian School provides education from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade.

Higher education

Louisiana Technical College's Northeast Louisiana Campus is located in Winnsboro.

Infrastructure

Healthcare

Winnsboro is the home of the only hospital located in Franklin Parish. Franklin Medical Center has been a part of Franklin Parish since 1970. The hospital is a 39-bed acute care facility. There are four health clinics owned by Franklin Medical Center located in Franklin and Tensas parishes.//http://fmc-cares.com/

National Guard

921st Engineer Company (Horizontal), part of the 528th Engineer Battalion which belongs to the

225th Engineer Brigade The 225th Engineer Brigade is a combat heavy engineer brigade of the Louisiana Army National Guard. It is one of the largest engineer formations in the United States Army National Guard. The 225th Engineer Brigade is headquartered at Camp Beaur ...

, is located in Winnsboro.

Notable people

Fred Carter, Jr. Fred F. Carter Jr. (December 31, 1933 – July 17, 2010) was an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer. Early career Carter was raised in the delta country in Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, Uni ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

guitarist and singer * Ralph E. King, physician and state senator from 1944 to 1952 and 1956 to 1960 *

Caleb Martin Caleb Martin may refer to: * Caleb Martin (American football) (1924–1994), American football tackle *Caleb Martin (basketball) (born 1995), American basketball player *Caleb Joseph Caleb Martin Joseph (born June 18, 1986) is an American forme ...

, American football player * Anthony McFarland, professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

commentator * John Moffitt, 2004

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

silver medalist *

Woody Sauldsberry Woodrow Sauldsberry Jr. (July 11, 1934 – September 3, 2007) was an American basketball player. He was the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1958 and in 1966 he won the NBA championship as a member of the Boston Celtics. Early life Sauldsberry was b ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player * Chet D. Traylor,

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

on the

Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (; ) is the supreme court, highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The Supreme ...

* Calvin A. H. Waller,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, U. S. Army;

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

* Sammy White, professional

player

References

External links

Winnsboro–Franklin Parish Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control * Towns in Louisiana Towns in Franklin Parish, Louisiana Parish seats in Louisiana