What is the history of Bernice, Louisiana?
Brought into being in 1899 by the railroad, Bernice is Union Parish’s “new kid on the block”. As the youngest town in the parish, it has a colorful history as a sawmill town and agricultural trade center. The area was known as the “big woods” for its large stands of huge virgin pine, which Captain C.C. Henderson planned to exploit by means of his Arkansas Southern Railroad, the first railway in the parish. Moving south from Junction City, his trail-blazing path eventually reached to Winnfield. Henderson almost bought some property about a mile north of the present town from Henry Mabry, but they could not agree on the price. The Captain moved south and bought land from Allen Lowery and Dave Cole and eventually named his acquisition for Lowery’s infant daughter, Bernice. On late spring day in May, he auctioned lots for the planned community. According to Henry Mabry’s son Brooks, he and his brother furnished water for the momentous event. “We hauled water from up there where Preacher Bu
