Monroe Louisiana History & Facts

Monroe is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical area, the second-largest metropolitan area in North Louisiana.

As governor of Louisiana, Esteban Rodríguez Miró had Fort Miro built in 1791. Fort Miro changed its name to Monroe to commemorate the first arrival of the steamboat James Monroe in the spring of 1820. The ship's arrival was the single event, in the minds of local residents, that transformed the outpost into a town.

Credit for the name is indirectly given to James Monroe of Virginia, the fifth President of the United States, for whom the ship was named. The steamboat is depicted in a mural at the main branch of the Ouachita Parish Public Library.

Monroe's origins date back to the Spanish colonial period.

As the 19th century began, the entire Ouachita Valley region... was part of Spanish colonial holdings. Ouachita County encompassed the area between the Red and the Mississippi Rivers, from north of Concordia and Rapides County to the Missouri. The area was sparsely populated, primarily by itinerant hunters and trappers until late in the 18th century. Under Spanish colonial rule, Jean Baptiste Filhiol was sent from South Louisiana to oversee the settlement of the Poste du Ouachita in 1781. In 1785 Filhiol designated Prairie des Canots, now Monroe... as the governmental center of the Poste du Ouachita. In response to a petition by the settlers, a fortification was built in 1791 and named Fort Miro in honor of the Spanish governor, Estavan Miro.

During the American Civil War, Monroe and Opelousas, the seat of St. Landry Parish in southern Louisiana, had Confederate training camps. They were established after the fall of New Orleans to the Union in 1862. Conscripts were soon sent to both camps. In 1862, Monroe and Delhi in Richland Parish became overcrowded with unwelcome refugees from rural areas to the east.

They had fled the forces of Union General U.S. Grant, who moved into northeastern Louisiana and spent the winter of 1862–1863 at Winter Quarters south of Newellton in Tensas Parish. He was preparing for the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, not completed until July 4, 1863. Historian John D. Winters reported "strong Union sympathy" in both Delhi and Monroe. As the refugees moved farther west toward Minden in Webster Parish, many of the residents, themselves very poor, refused to sell them food or shelter and treated them with contempt.

Located in northeastern Louisiana, Monroe is the center of the Monroe metropolitan statistical area. It is the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, and northeastern Louisiana's economic and cultural hub. Monroe has an elevation of 72 feet (21.9 m) above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.6 square miles (83.9 km2), of which, 28.7 square miles (74.3 km2) of it is land and 3.7 square miles (9.6 km2) of it is water. The total area is 11.46% water.

Famous Peoples From Monroe Louisiana

Valerie Mason-John

(born 22 November 1962) is the co-founder of Eight Step Recovery - Using The Buddha's Teaching to Overcome Addiction, an alternative to the 12-step programs for addiction.

Since the publication of the book by Windhorse Publications in 2013, it has been the recipient of a Best USA Book Award 2014 and Best International Book Award 2015 in the self-motivational and self-help category. Eight Step Meetings now take place in the UK, USA, Canada, India and Finland. Mason-John also is the co-creator of Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery (MBAR), which was inspired by Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression book by John D. Teasdale, Mark Williams, and Zindal Seagal. They are the author of eight books and work as a public speaker in Mindfulness for Addiction and Emotional Well Being and is a trainer in anti-bullying and conflict resolution. Valerie went on to be ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Community, where they received their spiritual name, Vimalasara. They also the chairperson of Triratna Vancouver Buddhist Centre. Their Buddhist name is Vimalasara, which means "she whose essence is stainless and pure". They used to be a freelance feature writer for The Voice newspaper and was also a performer and spoken-word poet using the stage name "Queenie". Black British by birth, they have now become a Canadian.

We also serve Alexandria City.

More Info.

PD&G Wallcover Inc.

Call Us: 949-487-9261
Email: deb@pdgwallcover.com