Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Industry & Commerce, Transportation

Location

4th St &, LA-2 Alt, Bernice, LA 71222, USA

Lat/Long

32.821462, -92.655873

Grant Recipient

Bernice Historical Society

In 1899, as it made its way from southern Arkansas into the state of Louisiana, the Arkansas Southern Railroad platted a new town along its route. They named the new town Bernice, and a depot was erected at the new site. In May 1899, Arkansas Southern sold business and residential lots in the newly laid out town at public auction. The May 20, 1899 Shreveport, Louisiana Times estimated that over 2,000 people had attended the sale, and the May 27, 1899 edition of the Louisiana paper the Richland Beacon-News reported that 207 lots had been sold ranging in price from $25 to $270 per lot.

By July 21, 1899, the Shreveport Times stated that $14,000 worth of lots had been sold in the new town of Bernice. The Times also reported that at that point, Arkansas Southern had continued its extension into Louisiana, completing its line within 14 miles of Ruston, Louisiana, about 20 miles south of Bernice. By November 28, 1899, the New Orleans paper the Times-Democrat reported that the line had finally been completed to Ruston, noting that this “had been delayed by the tremendous caves in the side of a forty-foot cut twelve miles north of Ruston.” That December, the town of Bernice was officially incorporated.

At its furthest point, the Arkansas Southern Railroad ran from El Dorado, Arkansas to just south of Winnfield, Louisiana (Official Guide of the Railways, National Railway Publication Company, July 1901). It offered passenger and freight service to the surrounding areas, transporting lumber and agricultural products including cotton.

In 1905, the Arkansas Southern Railroad was consolidated into the Rock Island, Arkansas and Louisiana Railroad, which was then acquired in 1906 by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company (Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company, for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1906). Passenger service on the line continued until the 1950s and freight service until the 1980s. In 1991, the 1899 depot in Bernice was acquired by the town and converted for use as a museum. As of 2023, it remains the home of the Bernice Depot Museum.