Keithville, Louisiana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Keithville
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| Hamlet of Keithville | |
 Keithville
Location in Louisiana
Keithville
Location in the United States
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| Country |  United States |
| States |  Louisiana |
| Parish |  Caddo Parish |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code |
71047
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| Area code(s) | 318 Exchange: 925 |
Keithville is an unincorporated community in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies to the south of Shreveport along U.S. Route 171. Although unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 71047.
Contents
History
Keithville came into existence when two railroads, the Southern Pacific and the Houston-Shreveport, met on properties of the Keith brothers in the early 1880s. One of the Keith brothers was State Representative Perry Polk Keith, who served four terms from 1912 to 1928.
Perry Keith was born near Macon, Georgia but settled in virgin territory in Caddo Parish when he was three months old with his parents, Henry David Keith and the former Mary Jones. On February 23, 1871, he married the former Narcissa Miller (died 1910) of Caddo Parish. Their children were William Henry Keith (1875-1951), Daniel Wesley Keith (1875-1929), Perry P. Keith, Jr. (1877-1945), David Keith (Perry's twin who died an infant), Mary Slaughter Keith (1880-1931, never married), James Hardy Keith (born and died in 1883), Anna Beulah Keith Darby Cranfield (1885-1966, remarried after death of first husband) of Plaquemine, Louisiana, and Ray Cleveland Keith, who died soon after birth in 1889.
A Democrat, Keith served in the state House alongside David B. Samuel, later a long-term Shreveport city judge, and Lee Emmett Thomas, the Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish and later from 1922 to 1930 the mayor of Shreveport. As a legislator, the taciturn Keith is believed to have made no speeches on the House floor during his entire tenure. Instead he became a "cue giver" whose judgment affected the votes of many of his colleagues on critical issues. As chairman of the House Finance Committee during the administration of Governor John M. Parker from 1920 to 1924, Keith worked to maintain state finances on a sound footing and to treat all state agencies and commissions with fairness in regard to budgetary constraints.
The Methodist Keith donated the land for construction of what is now the Keithville United Methodist Church at 11145 Old Mansfield Road. Construction was begun in 1904 by Tom Hudnall, and the first service was held on October 4 of that year. The dedication took place in December 1905. The church installed a brass bell in its steeple. Originally used on a locomotive, the bell came from a plantation in Coushatta in Red River Parish. Keith was also active in the Masonic lodge, the Shriners, and Woodmen of the World.
Prior to his legislative years, Keith served eight years each on the Caddo Parish School Board and the parish governing body called the "police jury," revamped in 1984 as the Caddo Parish Commission.
Keith died at the age of eighty-seven after an illness of more than three months. Death came in the same modest house in which he had lived since 1854, when he was seven years of age. Services were held at the Keith residence, with ministers from Shreveport and Grand Cane in DeSoto Parish officiating. Interment was at Keithville Cemetery.
One of Keith's great-nephews, Perry Roy Keith, Jr. (1924-1998), was a journalist who worked for both the defunct Shreveport Journal and the Shreveport Times. This Perry Keith, a son of Perry R. Keith, Sr. (1893-1932), and the former Rhoda Hunt (1899-1962), was the commander of the Shreveport post of the American Legion for 1977-1978.
Geography
Major highways
Interstate 49
U.S. Route 171
Louisiana Highway 169
Louisiana Highway 525
Louisiana Highway 789
Economy
Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections operated the Forcht-Wade Correctional Center in Keithville, located in the Eddie D. Jones Nature Park. It closed in July 2012.
Education
The Caddo Parish School Board operates public schools.
- Keithville Elementary/Middle School [1]
Infrastructure
Major highways
- Interstate 49
- U.S. Route 171
- Louisiana Highway 169
- Louisiana Highway 525
- Louisiana Highway 789
Notable people
- Sherri Smith Buffington, former state senator
- Claude King, Country music singer and songwriter known for "Wolverton Mountain" was born in Keithville in 1923; died in Shreveport in 2013
- Keith Nale, Firefighter and former Survivor player, who played in Survivor: San Juan Del Sur, and Survivor: Second Chances.
