Mer Rouge

History

There is a hill that serves as a boundary between Mer Rouge and Bastrop, named "Red Hill". According to legend, French settlers recognized the "sea of red sedge" between the bluffs to the north and west of the area. They called it " ", or the "red sea" prairie. On February 3, 1865, near the end of the American Civil War, two squadrons of the Illinois cavalry attacked Mer Rouge and, according to historian John D. Winters, seized some horses and mules, while also freeing some enslaved African-Americans. They then "burned about 300,000 bushels of corn [and] some cotton", thus undermining the production power of the pro-slavery rebels. In August 1922, in a case that would attract national attention, members of the Ku Klux Klan abducted two Mer Rouge men—Filmore Watt Daniel and Thomas Fletcher Richard—on the Bastrop highway. After torturing and killing the men, the Klansmen disposed of their bodies in nearby Lake Lafourche. Following the killings, Louisiana Governor John M. Parker sought help from the U.S. Department of Justice in suppressing Klan violence within the state. On October 5, 2014, a Union Pacific freight train crashed into a lowboy trailer loaded with a crane, seriously injuring both railroad crew and causing two engines along with 17 cars to derail. 50 homes were evacuated due to the leakage of argon gas from the tank car.

Geography

Mer Rouge is in central Morehouse Parish, east of Bastrop, the parish seat. The above-mentioned Red Hill rises above the plain on which Mer Rouge sits, about halfway between the village and Bastrop. U.S. Routes 165 and 425 pass through the village. The highways lead together westerly to Bastrop but split in the center of Mer Rouge, the US 165 leading northeast to Bonita and US 425 leading south to Oak Ridge. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Mer Rouge has an area of , of which , or 0.68%, are water.

Largest nearby schools

• Bastrop High School
  High · Bastrop · 902 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Morehouse Elementary School
  Elementary · Bastrop · 587 students · 19.6:1 ratio
• Delta Elementary School
  Elementary · Mer Rouge · 578 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Morehouse Magnet School
  Other · Bastrop · 294 students · 11.3:1 ratio