Marthaville, Louisiana 71450

Wikipedia doesn’t have much to say about Marthaville.

“Marthaville is an unincorporated community in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Natchitoches Micropolitan Statistical Area.

“Marthaville was founded in 1851. The founder, James Jackson Rains, named the town after his wife, Martha Rains. The town, during its peak, had a train stop, a bank, general store, bar, and hotel, etc. In the late 1960s, the railroad was removed and the town experienced an economic downturn. Now it is an unincorporated community in Natchitoches Parish, still having the store, post office, etc., and it is home to at least a dozen churches in the area in addition to an Elementary and Junior High school.

“Marthaville is located on the western edge of Natchitoches Parish, 7 miles west of Robeline near the border with Sabine Parish.

“The Marthaville Good Ole Days Festival[1] is ‘A two-day September festival that celebrates the past with activities for the whole family, including games, live entertainment, arts and crafts, a parade, and delicious food.’ The Marthaville Good Ole Days Festival attracts about 1,500 people to the area.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marthaville,_Louisiana

Rebel State Historic Site is nearby. Originally, the site marked where three Union cavalryman killed a Confederate soldier. None of them must have heard that one Confederate was as good as five Yankees. Or maybe it was four. Or 10. Today the location is the site of the Louisiana Country Music Museum. The museum has a shirt that belonged to Hank Williams and one of Roy Acuff’s yo yo’s.

There are lots of pictures here:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=rebel+state+park+marthaville+la&qpvt=Rebel+State+Park+Marthaville+LA&FORM=IGRE#a

I’m not fond of waving around that X with the stars. I never liked that flag. The national flags of the Confederate States of America looked like national flags. Rednecks and racists and re-enactors, moonshiners and some just plain ignert people co-opted the “rebel flag” a long time ago. Let ‘em keep it.