Sinclair on the Corner

The colorful history of the 100 block of Main Street in Marksville, Louisiana.
The station was a center of activity for decades in downtown Marksville, and remain s an icon on Main Street. This work tracks the lot from colonial days to modern times.

Part of the founding father of Marksville's Spanish Land Grant, the site of the Old Sinclair Station been the site of homes, boarding houses, hotels post offices, and stores until the station was built about 1936.

It was the site where a letter was mailed in 1855 which was featured in the Oscar winning movie "Twelve Years a Slave". The letter was secretly mailed by Sam Bass to alert authorities up north that Solomon Northup, a free man of color, had been kidnapped into slavery in the area. The letter led to Northup's freedom at the nearby Courthouse Square.

This corner and block was surrounded by French speaking merchants in the 1800s. French immigrants Fabius Ricard, Emile Chaze, Paul Michel and Simon Siess all were attracted to this area and set up shops or businesses on the four corners.

The Sinclair station was built about 1936 when a Ford dealership opened on the same block to service the cars.