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Roy, Louisiana

Field	Value
name	Roy
other_name	Roytown
settlement_type	Unincorporated community
pushpin_map	Louisiana#USA
pushpin_map_caption	Location of Roy in Louisiana
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	United States
subdivision_type1	State
subdivision_name1	Louisiana
subdivision_type2	Parish
subdivision_name2	Bienville
unit_pref	Imperial
population_density_km2	auto
timezone	CST
utc_offset	-6
timezone_DST	CDT
utc_offset_DST	-5
elevation_footnotes
elevation_ft	200
coordinates
coordinates_footnotes
postal_code_type	ZIP Code
postal_code	71016
area_code	318
blank_name	GNIS feature ID
blank_info	543632

Roy (also known as Roytown) is an unincorporated community located approximately two miles south of Castor in Bienville Parish in northern Louisiana, United States. To the south of Roy is Ashland in Natchitoches Parish. Named for Roy Otis Martin, Sr. (1890-1973), the community was the location of a closed sawmill owned and operated by the Martin Timber Company based in Alexandria, Louisiana, and operated by Martin's son, Roy O. Martin, Jr., and then his grandson, Roy O. Martin, III until sold to Hunt Plywood in 1992.

History

The former Martin Lumber Company sawmill in Roy, Louisiana

From 1898 to 1927, the Alberta community thrived just north of Roy. Alberta began when E. M. Werkheiser established a sawmill, and the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway came into the area. By 1900, some three hundred were employed at a sawmill of the Bienville Lumber Company, which built a school, which also served as a chapel for area churches. There was a grocery store, dry goods store, cotton gin, blacksmith shop, and several gristmills. In 1915, the sawmill was moved to Mississippi. A post office operated at Alberta until 1927

Later, across from the Martin company sawmill were a grocery store and a gasoline station. A general store was located about a mile south from the sawmill. During the heyday of the mill, the grocery store was referred to as a commissary of the company town. Housing quarters for the mill workers were constructed along what is now Louisiana Highway 153. Most of those living near the mill worked for the company. The Kansas City Southern Railroad had a track that ran near the sawmill, and a spur line connected the railroad to the sawmill to facilitate shipping of the lumber.

In 1952, a tornado, spiraling from the direction of Black Lake Bayou, destroyed the sawmill and housing quarters, but the gas station, grocery store, and nearby general store survived the storm. The sawmill was rebuilt and remained operational until November 2000 when low lumber prices caused the closure of the sawmill by Hunt Forest Products, the then owner of the sawmill.

Present day

Most of the Roy area, formerly open country, is now a dense thicket. Existing businesses include a gas station and a bar.

Roy uses the same ZIP code and telephone numbers as the residents of Castor. Pupils from Roy attend Castor High School.

Geography

Nelson Creek, a branch of Black Lake Bayou, traverses Roy.

Roads

Besides Highway 153, the Punkin Center, and Sawmill roads provide access about Roy.

References

{{GNIS. 543632
"Alberta, Louisiana", Louisiana historical marker
[http://huntfamilyhistory.com/wpd/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2000-Castor-Closing.pdf "Lumber Plant Closing Hits Village Hard" -- AP story, November 12, 2000]

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

unincorporated-communities-in-louisiana unincorporated-communities-in-bienville-parish,-louisiana

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