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Washington Parish, Louisiana, one of the most scenic rural parishes in the state -- piney woods, rolling hills, rivers, streams, and farms. Good food, festivals, local heritage, and the largest free fair in the nation are just some of the offerings in our beautiful parish. The Florida Parish Tourism Commission has the primary responsibility for promoting and developing tourism. A great deal of information about the Parish's attractions can be found at their Website, Click Here. To see a list of activities and events, Click Here.

Timbers Hotel and Restaurant In Bogalusa

History: Washington Parish was named in honor of our first president of the United States. It is located in the part of Louisiana that is called “The Florida Parishes”, which derived its name from the treaty signed by France and England on February 10, 1763. This area was immediately organized as an English colony and named “West Florida”. The United States purchased the Territory of Louisiana in 1803, but “West Florida” was not specifically included in the transfer because Spain felt as if she had acquired “West Florida” by conquest over the British and not by donation from France.

In 1810 the “Rebellion of West Florida” overthrew the Spanish rule, which resulted in the establishment of “The Republic of West Florida”, with Fulwar Skipworth as Governor. Seventy-four days after the forming of this republic within a republic, President Madison ordered troops into the area, and they forcibly took possession. Louisiana became a state in 1812, but “West Florida” didn’t become a part of it until several months later.

In 1814 Andrew Jackson marched his mountaineer soldiers across the Pearl River and improvised a road through the forests. By this time the people in the area had become enthusiastic citizens, and found friends and kinsmen among “Old Hick’ry’s” troops, and so they eagerly joined them in the Battle of New Orleans. The “Military Road”, constructed by General Jackson, crossed the Pearl River into present day Bogalusa. Records of the War Department show that Jackson crossed into Louisiana just north of Angie on Nov. 28, 1814, and camped at a spring five miles west of Bogalusa.

Parish government was organized March 6, 1819 when the parish of St. Tammany was divided by a state legislative act. The act defined the boundaries of the severed area and it also declared that the new subdivision was to be called Washington Parish. The town of Franklinton became the permanent parish seat from an election July 4,1826. Bogalusa, called “The Magic City of the Pinelands’, the only city in Washington Parish, was founded in 1906 by the Goodyear family of Buffalo, New York.

Washington Economic Development Foundation
526 Georgia Ave.
P. O. Box 668 Bogalusa, LA
70429-0668
(985) 735-7565