Gilliam, Louisiana
The following excerpt is a brief town description. To learn more about Gilliam, please visit the Gilliam Branch Library located at 12797 Main Street, Gilliam, LA 71029 or call (318) 296-4227.
"Gilliam is a railroad town surrounded with thousands of oil and gas wells. Settlers were in this area long before the 1839 survey. Some of the early settlers of the town moved here from what was left of Irving's Bluff which was located at the foot of Sewel's Canal. The Shreveport Times recognized the Gilliam settlement as a new town on 8 Nov 1898. They listed the Gilliam Store, Post Office, Cavett-Glassell Gin, drug store and a brick factory before the railway came. The Caddo Police Jury had already completed a new bridge across Red Bayou before 8 November 1898 when the settlement was recognized as a "New Town of Gilliam" as reported in the Shreveport Times. Only about three miles of track was to be laid connecting Gilliam to Texarkana, then twenty-five miles from Gilliam into Shreveport by the Texarkana-Shreveport-Natchez Railway. In the early life of Gilliam, they had a cotton gin owned by N.W. Sentell & Cavett. Sentell sold his interest and the gin became known as Cavett-Glassell Gin. They also had several churches in and around the town. There were groups of tents on the west side of the tracks in earlier days. It was the red light district. At night it blossomed out into drunkenness and rowdyism. R.L. Gilliam gave the Railroad a right of way through his land on the condition they build a depot on his land near Red Bayou and name it Gilliam. The building of a bridge over Red Bayou gave Gilliam access to Irvin's Bluff, Hoss' Ferry on Kelly Bayou, Gilmer and Wild Lucia on Red River. A tornado almost completely destroyed Gilliam with the exception of the Noel house which was located out of town in May 1908. Around 40 people were killed. They were buried near the banks of Black Bayou near where the Southwestern Gas Power Co. had a power station. Sewel's Canal was dug from Black Bayou to Red Bayou, to give an outlet, to ship cotton on the Red River. The canal runs southwest from New Avery Church to Black Bayou and north of Highway 170. Early settlements, along the hard to reach Red River, moved to overland roads and railways, leaving ghost towns behind. Many Indian artifacts have been found in this area. Early settlers were Robert P. Baker, Garcia Bissent, George Demors, James Erwin, Robert Hamilton, John H. Herndon, Patrick Lynch, Samuel A. Otis, Tandy Page, Marton Wood. Others were Will Glassen, R.L. Gilliam, Ham Houston, Jim Sellington, T.B. Tooke. Ruben Dougleas moved to Gilliam on 1 Jan 1902 after the bridge across Red Bayou was built."
Source:
Touchstone, Samuel, J.(1998) Caddo History. Louisiana: Folk-Life Books Publishing
Additional Source:
Douglas, R.T. (1975, July 3). Gilliam has suffered from cyclone and flood. Caddo Citizen
Part [I], [II], [III], [IV] <= click links
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