Agriculture
Hoke Duncan has been working at the Cotton Gin in Gilliam for over 50 years. He is the descendant of some of the first African Americans who settled in the Gilliam area. While still common along the byway today, cotton has been replaced with corn and soybeans as the area's main crops.
Originally called "Whiskey Road", Self Road now runs between Highway's 3049 and 71. After whiskey was outlawed in Shreveport in 1911, distillers flocked to North Caddo Parish. Whiskey Road brought people, supplies and, of course, whiskey to and from their newly-constructed camp.
Two prominent plantations, located within a few miles of here, brought prosperity to the area. Cairo Plantation, owned and operated by the Sentell family for over one hundred years, is home to the region's White Dent Corn. The second, Wild Lucia Plantation, received its name from a hermit who lived in the woods nearby. These farms, and the families who have called them home, are part of a broader story of hard work and perseverance that has made this region what it is today.
[Photo captions]
Above: The mechanical cotton pickets harvest
the cotton by pulling the fiber from the cotton
boll as they move through the field through
this page online
Left: Caddo Farmers' Gin, Belcher, LA
ginning cotton.
Right: Harvested corn ready for transporting to
be processed.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Industry & Commerce • Roads & Vehicles.
Location. 32° 52.316′ N, 93° 59.127′ W. Marker is in Vivian, Louisiana, in Caddo Parish. It is on SW Front Street half a mile north of East Arkansas Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Located under Gazebo outside of Chamber of Commerce building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 100 NW Front St, Vivian LA 71082, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Louisiana. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Piney Woods. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Transportation & Timber (here, next to this marker); Roughnecks & Roustabouts (here, next to this marker); Vivian Railroad Station (within shouting distance of this marker); The Adams-Fuller House (approx. 6.3 miles away); Hosston Methodist Church (approx. 6.4 miles away); Hosston Post Office (approx. 6.4 miles away); Discovery-Rodessa Oil Field (approx. 6.9 miles away); Frog Level (approx. 7.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Vivian.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 9, 2021. It was originally submitted on April 8, 2021, by Jason Armstrong of Talihina, Oklahoma. This page has been viewed 720 times since then and 32 times this year. Photo 1. submitted on April 8, 2021, by Jason Armstrong of Talihina, Oklahoma. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.
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