Winnsboro Area History

History

WINNSBORO'S EARLY YEARS

Desoto was probably the first white man to view that part of Louisiana which is now Franklin Parish. By consulting a map of his travels, it can be seen that one of this camping places was on Deer Creek, at or near where Gilbert now stands.

Franklin Parish had its birth in an accident which happened on Little Boeuf River more than a century ago. Two keelboats, laden with machinery, ran aground. The machinery in one was said to be able to gin cotton at the breathtaking rate of four bales a day. In the other was a massive, handwrought contrivance of iron and steel that could "cut more cypress boards in a day than 50 men." After backbreaking efforts to free their boats from the sandbar which held them fast, the boatmen decided to pitch their camp on the banks of the Little Boeuf River when they were. This camp became a settlement which grew rapidly through the industry of its founders.

Franklin Parish was created on March 1, 1843 from portions of Ouachita, Catahoula and Madison parishes through the efforts of Senator John Winn. The parish was named "Franklin " in honor of Benjamin Franklin. 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 was incorporated on March 18, 1902 by Governor William Wright Heard.

When the Village of Winnsboro was officially incorporated in 1902, the man appointed to serve as the first mayor was Captain William Phillip Powell. A native of Quebec, Canada, and a teacher, Powell came to the United States at the age of 21. He later served as captain of a Missouri Cavalry Company in the Confederate Army.

In 1865, he married Susan Desha and settled in Winnsboro. The couple built their home in downtown Winnsboro across the street from what was later to become the site of the present day
U. S. Post Office.

Powell became publisher of The Franklin Sun and served his community as postmaster, politician and a lay Methodist minister. He and his wife had no children of their own, but opened their home to many orphaned children during their lifetime.

City records show the telephone came to Winnsboro in the year 1905; electricity, in 1914; and water and sewer service, in 1923, In 1924, a volunteer fire department was formed. In 1938 a bond issue to build the present municipal building was approved, and the following year citizens agreed to the purchase of the Landis municipal park property. Most of the community's streets were hard surfaced after 1950. On the fertile lands of the parish, cotton became king, and agriculture, the mainstay of the parish economy. So it remains today.

HISTORY OF THE "PRINCESS THEATRE"

The Princess theatre was originally established in 1925, by George Elam. Two years later, Elam moved his theatre into a building on Prairie Street where it stands today. Leasing the building from Rowena Ramage, Elam worked to improve the building which was built in 1907.

The Princess Theatre brought a new world of entertainment to the citizens of Winnsboro. Black and White silent movies were shown on a screen while live piano music brought the films to lived. A few years later Elam bought records made to play along with the movies. In 1930, a year after sound was added to films, Elam put a sound system in the theatre.

Right before World War II, in the early 1940's, Elam added on to the building making his Theatre longer.

In 1960, Elam sold the theatre to Jack Pope. Pope continued leasing the building from Rowena Ramage while keeping the Princess operating just as Elam had done.

The opening of Monroe's Pecanland Mall in 1985 forced Pope to close the Princess. Pecanland Mall Cinema had ten movie screens compared to the Princesses one.

In 1992, Rowena Ramage gave the Princess Theatre building to the city of Winnsboro. A Theatre Board of Directors was appointed to take care of the building. In 1993, the board announced renovation plans to begin immediately on the Princess Theatre.