Native Of France Gives Name To Town of Gueydan

Golden Anniversary Edition of the Crowley Daily Signal Pub. 1949, page 109

The town of Gueydan was founded by Jean Pierre Gueydan, a native of France, who in 1887 purchased 45,000 acres of land for 12.5 cents an acre. Three years later Worthy Quereau, a lawyer from the North, located on the Gueydan tract and engaged in farming. Quereau in 1904 was president of the Bank of Gueydan, which was housed in the trick structure that is its home today.

In 1896 the Southern Pacific built a branch line to the present town site of Gueydan. J.P. Gueydan donated all of the land for the right of way and led the movement to organize the town. He donated a city square mile for public schools, another for a park and another for a rice mill sit. Mr. Gueydan was the originator of an irrigation plant and canal that was the largest in the rice belt in 1902. In that year the land he had purchased at the rate of eight acres for a dollar was said to be worth $30 per acre.

Henry L. Gueydan, son of Jean Pierre Gueydan, upon his father?s death, took his place in the community and became editor and publisher of the Gueydan News in 1901.

The Gueydan Drainage District in 1902 was busy with plans to drain the Eight Ward of Vermilion parish and reclaim for planting 25,000 acres more of good rice land. A five mill tax had been voted by the parish and $60,000 worth of stock sold by the Inland Canal Company, who had contracted for the excavation of about 500,000 cubic yards of earth, involving about 24 miles of canal. The officers of the company were W. D. Spencer, president; J. G. Neelis, secretary; J. W. Myer, Charles Clark, and F. M. Hasson, members of the board; A Perrilliot and C. A. DeArmas, engineers.

In 1897 Gueydan had six houses. In 1904 there were dwelling houses for the 1028 people, a large number of stores and business houses of all kinds, hotels, restaurants and cafes, machine shops, two good newspapers and a printing office, two large rice mills, the best schools in the parish, four prosperous churches, a company organized and ready to put in waterworks, electric light plant and ice plant, several large rice warehouses, one of the best irrigation canals in the rice belt.

Vice president of the bank was A. Kaplan and the cashier, John G. Neelis.

W. L. Doss, leader in educational, religious and business circles, was president of the Mutual rice mill and a dealer in general merchandise. Other officers of the mill were W. D. Spencer, vice-president, F. D. Clark, secretary, J. B. Foley of Crowley, W. M. Haste, G. W. Goudy and A. L. Graham, board of directors. The plan of mutual participation by stockholders was devised by Foley.

The Gueydan Rice Mill was a part of a combination of rice mills headed by A. Kaplan, and it was under the management of As Kennedy.