Marksville Map
Marksville is a city in and the parish seat of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,537 at the 2000 census. Louisiana's first land-based casino, Paragon Casino Resort, opened in Marksville in June 1994. It is run by the Tunica-Biloxi tribe.
Marksville is named after Marc Eliche, who established a trading post after his wagon broke down in this area. He was a Jewish Italian trader, believe to be from Venice, whose Italian name was recorded by a Spanish priest as Marco Litche, and as Marc Eliche by French priests after his trading post was established about 1794. Marksville was noted on Louisiana maps as of 1809. He later donated land that became the Courthouse Square that is still the center of Marksville today. Marksville has a strong Creole and Cajun population whence they have many families that have been there since it was incorporated , a few of these families are Sylvan , Trahan , Malveaux and Zachary. Louisiana Creole and Louisiana French is spoken in this town .
During the American Civil War, Marksville late in 1862 hosted Confederate soldiers from Texas who, in the words of the historian John D. Winters, "built wooden huts to shelter themselves from the icy winds and rain. At night, after the usual camp routines, the men amused themselves around their campfires with practical jokes and group singing or sat listening to the music of a regimental band. Some of the soldiers often gathered under an arbor of boughs to dance jigs, reels, and doubles to the music of several fiddles. On the opposite side of the camp, another arbor seved as a church. There at night with the area lighted by pine knots, men listened to the exhortations and prayers of the preacher and sang favorite hymns."
Nearby cities include Center Point, Plaucheville, Evergreen, Bunkie, Cheneyville.