Dodson History

Dodson Louisiana is located in the Northern part of Winn Parish. This small town had it's beginning on August 15, 1860 when Alfred D. Reeks received a land grant of 120 acres from the United States Government for his service during the War With Mexico.

After receiving his land grant, Mr. Reeks traveled from his home in Mississippi with plans to clear the native pine forest for use as a farm. Upon arrival, he had the trees deadened, a method used by early farmers to cut and burn growth from the land in order to clear it for farming use. After this, the area became known as Reeks' Deadening.

Mr. Reeks built a home at the present C.L. Shell residence. About the same time there was an established church known as the Reeks' Deadening Church . The onset of Civil War brought the work of clearing the land to a halt and Reeks' dream of a big farm was never realized.

It is not known what agreement Reeks made with settlers on his grant, but before long, many people came. Chiefly from Georgia , Mississippi and Alabama , they settled the fertile land abound with deer, turkeys and other wild game. Many of the descendents of these early settlers are still in Dodson and the surrounding area today.

At the turn of the century, the Arkansas Southern Railroad (now the Rock Island Railroad) was built from Ruston to Winnfield through this small community. Three saw mills were also built around this same time. Among these was the Kelly Lumber Company, one of the largest sawmills in the country at that time. After the arrival of the Railroad and sawmills, Reeks' Deadening grew to a prosperous community of 1,500 to 2,000 people.

A contractor, J.M. Dodson, and his daughter, Lena , located here in 1900. Miss Lena was the belle of the town, so the town's name was changed from Reeks' Deadening to Lena , in her honor. It was discovered, however, that a Lena, Louisiana was already in existence. The name of the village was changed again, this time to Dodson and has been called so ever since.