Fullerton Town & Mill Site – Gulf Lumber Company

The arrival of the railroads in west central Louisiana heralded the first major population boom in Vernon Parish. Trains made travel and transportation of goods easier. Lumber barons around the country seized the opportunity and began buying up the land and cutting the virgin pines. Fullerton, Louisiana was the company town of the Gulf Lumber Company. sIt prospered for 20 years, but without re-forestation, the trees couldn’t last forever, and eventually the day arrived when the “last log” was cut on May 6, 1927. Timber had been cut from 97,000 acres. Much of the cut-over land was sold to the Federal government. Some eventually became part of the Kisatchie National Forest, while some became part of the Fort Polk military reservation. The Fullerton Mill site is on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, you may visit the ruins of this once prosperous community at the Fullerton Lake Recreation Complex in the Kisatchie National Forest. Points of interest are identified along the 1.6-mile Fullerton Mill Trail.