Editing Alexandria, Louisiana (section)

== History ==
[[File:Louisiana - Alexandria - NARA - 23940345 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Aerial view, 1945]]
Located along the Red River, the city of Alexandria was originally home to a community which supported activities of the adjacent French trader outpost of ''Post du Rapides''. The area developed as an assemblage of traders, [[Caddo people]], and merchants in the agricultural lands bordering the mostly unsettled areas to the north and providing a link from the south to the [[Old San Antonio Road|El Camino Real]] and then larger settlement of [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], the oldest permanent settlement in the [[Louisiana Purchase]].

[[Alexander Fulton (Louisiana)|Alexander Fulton]], a [[business]]man from [[Washington County, Pennsylvania|Washington County]], near [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], received a land grant from Spain in 1762, and the first organized settlement was made at some point in the 1780s. In 1805, Fulton and business partner Thomas Harris Maddox laid out the town plan and named the town in Fulton's honor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fulton, Alexander|url=http://www.lahistory.org/site23.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301054203/http://www.lahistory.org/site23.php|archive-date=March 1, 2010|website=Louisiana Historical Association|publisher=|accessdate=October 9, 2010}}</ref> The earliest deed that survives for an Alexandria resident is from June 24, 1801, when a William Cochren, who identifies himself as "Slave master of the Southern Americas", sold a tract of land across the Red River to a William Murrey.<ref>[Louisiana State Land Office, Historical Records, Sales Documents, South Western District, Sales Letters, 39]</ref>

That same year, Fulton was appointed [[coroner]] in Rapides Parish by [[Louisiana Territory|territorial]] [[governor of Louisiana|Governor]] [[William C.C. Claiborne]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lahistory.org/site23.php|title=Fulton, Alexander|publisher=lahistory.org (Louisiana Historical Association)|access-date=October 9, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923115526/http://lahistory.org/site23.php|archive-date=September 23, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Alexandria was incorporated as a town in 1818 and received a [[city charter]] in 1832.<ref name="citysite">{{cite web| url = http://cityofalexandriala.com/community/coahistory/government.htm| title = Community| access-date = August 28, 2007| archive-date = January 5, 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100105013030/http://cityofalexandriala.com/community/coahistory/government.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref>

In 1942, Alexandria was the site of the Lee Street Riot,<ref>Simpson, William M. "A Tale Untold? The Alexandria, Louisiana, Lee Street Riot (January 10, 1942)." Louisiana History: ''The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association'' 35, no. 2 (1994): 133-149.</ref> an incident of [[racial violence]] that occurred between mostly civilians and military police. Witnesses state that as many as 20 people may have been killed, however the official report indicates that 3 soldiers were critically injured, and does not mention any deaths.<ref>{{Cite web |last=jsmilie |date=2021-02-26 |title=City Erects Marker Recognizing Lee Street Riot of 1942 |url=https://www.cityofalexandriala.com/press-release/city-erects-marker-recognizing-lee-street-riot-1942 |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=City of Alexandria, LA |language=en}}</ref>