Vinton, Louisiana
| Vinton, Louisiana | |
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 Downtown Vinton
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| Motto: Louisiana's Gateway to Cajun Country | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Louisiana |
| Parish | Calcasieu |
| Elevation | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Coordinates | 30°11′24″N 93°34′50″W / 30.19000°N 93.58056°WCoordinates: 30°11′24″N 93°34′50″W / 30.19000°N 93.58056°W |
| Area | 5.05 sq mi (13.08 km2) |
| - land | 5.00 sq mi (12.95 km2) |
| - water | 0.05 sq mi (0.13 km2) |
| Population | 3,212 (2010) |
| Density | 642.8/sq mi (248.2/km2) |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Postal code | 70668 |
| Area code | 337 |
  Location of Vinton in Louisiana
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 Location of Louisiana in the United States
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Website: www |
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Vinton is a town in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,212 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Old Spanish Trail, which was neither old nor Spanish, wandered north and south of what is now U.S. Highway 90 in large part because of the unstable roadbed. The chief means of outside travel in the parish relied on riverboats plying the Sabine and Calcasieu rivers. Much of the marsh and bayous remained impassable. River travel made Lake Charles possible, just as mining for sulfur led to the founding of Sulphur. Settlers had long been in the Vinton area. Jean Baptise Granger settled acreage between what is now Vinton and Big Woods about 1827, one of the first pioneers of the area. Even so, the area remained sparsely populated.
The area had few settlers because France, New Spain, and Mexico disputed the western boundary of Louisiana for many years. When The United States made the Louisiana Purchase the disputed area was inherited. Spanish Lt. Col. Simón de Herrera and U.S. General James Wilkinson signed an agreement designating the area as neutral ground also known as the Neutral Strip. The agreement was not a treaty, and not ratified by either government, but was respected by both countries. The area, sometimes referred to as the Rio Hondo Territory, was off limits to the military of both countries and settlers were not to be allowed, but this did not stop squatters from both countries.
There had been numerous attempts to improve transportation throughout the 19th century. In the 1830s, on the nearby Sabine River, Dr. Robert Neblett developed a bluff into a thriving river port, which became known as Niblett's Bluff (sic, the spelling approximated the founder's name), located 6 miles (10 km) west of the present-day town. Confederate soldiers in 1863 cut a military road extending from Niblett's Bluff on the Sabine River to Alexandria. Although the road never developed into a major artery, during the Civil War Niblett's Bluff became Fort Niblett, which assisted the Confederate success in the Battle of Mansfield. Fort Niblett continues to be commemorated as part of Niblett's Bluff Park supported by local taxes.
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Wikipedia