Post Office Map

The map below shows the boundaries of Union Parish as they have existed since 1873. When it was originally created in 1839, Union included a large region of present-day Lincoln Parish. In fact, between 1839 and 1845, most of the entire area north and east of Ruston, as well as a short distance south of Ruston, belonged to Union Parish. The Louisiana Legislature cut off the bulk of this region from Union in 1845 and combined it with other areas to form Jackson Parish. Then in 1873, an additional small portion of southwestern Union Parish was cut off, combined with the northern portion of Jackson and other surrounding regions to form Lincoln Parish.

When studying the map below, keep in mind that Lake D'Arbonne is a man-made creation and did not exist until the dam on Bayou D'Arbonne was constructed in the 1960s. Click on the map to enlarge:

Acknowledgment

Thanks to John J. Germann for his invaluable assistance on the history of Louisiana post offices. Mr. Germann has spent many years researching the history of United States post offices in Louisiana and Texas. He has made detailed investigations into the records of the National Archives as well as the map collection in the Library of Congress. His 1990 publication, Louisiana Post Offices, gives very useful information about the early post offices of north Louisiana, including Union Parish.

One invaluable aspect of Mr. Germann's work are the post office maps he included for each parish. We are grateful to Mr. Germann for permission to post his Union Parish map here. Mr. Germann holds the copyright to this map, and he authorizes us to post it here for informational purposes only.