Watson’s post office opened on February 20, 1894.
Source: National Archives postmaster records
Fun Facts
Cool true things we learned from old maps and public records. Managed by the Society’s Junior Historian.
🌈 Looking for the Color of the Month? It lives in Kids’ Corner, picked by the Junior Art Director.
The Amite River has changed course over time—partly because gravel mining moved the banks.
Source: USGS and U.S. Forest Service maps
Land surveyors mapped this area in 1829–1831, walking with chains before GPS existed.
Source: BLM General Land Office survey plats
Guillaume Delisle’s 1718 map already shows this region—almost 300 years ago!
Source: Delisle map, 1718 (public map collections)
Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville published a map of the region in 1752.
Source: d’Anville map, 1752 (public map collections)
Native peoples lived along these rivers for thousands of years. The Amite River Phase dates to about 4000–1500 BC.
Source: Published archaeology of the Amite River Phase
Civil War maps of Port Hudson were drawn in 1863—and they still help us read the landscape today.
Source: Port Hudson campaign maps, 1863
Kept by the Junior Historian. Want to suggest a fact? Email [email protected]—a grown-up will review it first.