The Gazette
October 5, 1904
With the new railroad nearly completed and the various enterprises on foot which will go to make Farmerville a larger and and better town the question naturally arises — to what proportions will Farmerville grow? There are those of a very a optimistic turn of mind who, in their imagination, see Farmerville growing with the rapidity of a mushroom and who have a beautiful picture drawn in their imagination of electric lights, water works, paved streets, street cars, large department stores, and in fact everything that goes to make up a city. On the other hand there are those of a pessimistic nature who say that the town will never improve; that it has been dead too long for a railroad or any thing else to do it any good. Of course either of these opinions are absurd. Farmerville will become a good, live little business town there is no doubt, but of course she will never reach the dimensions that is dreamed of by the optimistic fellow unless more than one railroad comes to her rescue. There is nothing in sight to justify anyone to believe that there will be any thing miraculous in the growth of Farmerville because there is nothing more here than there has bee all the time. Of course we have the timber industry but that cannot be of much benefit so far as the town is concerned and the only industry that will serve to hold Farmerville up is the farming industry.
The coming of the railroad will, as a matter of fact, bring more trade to Farmerville, because the merchant can get better freight rates quicker transportation, and naturally can afford to bid on the farm products where otherwise they could not.
There is no doubt but what the town will go through a big change, considering the conditions that have existed here for the past ten years, and she will very likely become a thriving little town of from 800 to 1000 inhabitants and shipping about 2000 bales of cotton. If these dimensions can be reached we will have just cause to fell proud, but to say that the town will attain larger proportions than these would be rather broad.
The crying need of Farmerville, and Union Parish in general at present, is for a good healthy flow of immigration to come in and settle up a lot of this waste land that is scattered throughout the parish. It is well known fact that the lands of Union Parish compare favorably with any hill country anywhere and we could safely promise anybody that wanted to come in here and follow the pursuit of farming that they would have the very best advantages. Would it not be a good idea for the progressive men of our parish to organize an Immigration Bureau and got at it in a systematic way, as some of our sister parishes are doing.
Then we could have hopes of success and would have something tangible to build our hopes upon. There is no doubt but what the wave of prosperity is just beginning to strike Union Parish because it is practically undeveloped and the sooner her citizens go to work in a systematized manner the sooner these changes will come about.
Shiloh to Canaan 