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ALBANY
The lively
community of Albany near the eastern border of Livingston Parish was first
developed as a railroad community. It was incorporated as a village on October
7, 1953, by proclamation of Gov. Robert F. Kennon. The town’s first officials
were Mayor Grady Stewart, Aldermen B. G. Hess, Louis Bartus and Wilford Cowart,
and Marshal Jessie Fletcher. The name was first officially used by the Illinois
Central Railroad in 1906 when they plotted a route across Livingston Parish and
announced the names of the stations on their new route. The origin of the name
has several popular theories, with the most likely being that the residents
wanted to name the community Natalbany because of its location along the
Natalbany River. Since there was already a Natalbany (located north
of Hammond), the people altered the name and came up with Albany. Albany
developed as a crossroads community for the railroad and the Natalbany River,
and later the crossroads of U. S. Hwy. 190 and LA Hwy. 43 (Turnpike Road).
Situated on high land, it was a natural place for development. The first
development near the area, however, was actually about three miles south of the
present town at a sawmill community known as Maxwell, established by the
Brakenridge Lumber Company in 1890.