Editing Ball, Louisiana (section)

==History==
Ball had its start as a logging town with a sawmill.<ref>{{cite book|last=Leeper|first=Clare D'Artois|title=Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns, Cities, Plantations, Bayous, and Even Some Cemeteries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHeeUa0xNxcC&pg=PA28|date=October 19, 2012|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-4740-5|page=28}}</ref>

The earliest record of settlers in Ball dates to between 1840 and 1863. In 1893 Captain Chittenden Edwin Ball, a native of Union County, Kentucky, who captained steamboats up the Red River to Alexandria, named a sawmill town after himself. The captain settled in Rapides Parish in the late 1880s, where he established the Sweet Home Mill. In 1940 [[Camp Livingston]] was constructed, bringing with it job opportunities and a population boom. The number of military personnel stationed at Camp Livingston reached a peak of 42,500 in 1942. The end of World War II in 1945 brought about the closing of the base but many families decided to stay in the community. Discussion of incorporation began in the 1960s and in May 1972 incorporation was completed with the finalization of the town charter under "The Lawrason Act".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tourism Information |url=https://ball.govoffice2.com/index.asp?SEC=6937EC74-0B65-47AD-8D5A-7422326953C3&Type=B_LOC |access-date=April 2, 2022 |website=ball.govoffice2.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 2011, former mayor [[Roy Hebron]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], was sentenced to four years imprisonment for corruption.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/southcentral/2011/05/25/186225.htm | title=Former Louisiana Town Mayor Sentenced in Fraud Scheme | publisher=Claims Journal | date=May 25, 2011 | accessdate=August 16, 2014}}</ref> Hebron intended to return to the office after his election on November 6, 2018, when he handily unseated the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] incumbent, Neil S. Kavanagh, 817 (56 percent) to 380 (26 percent). Another 254 votes (18 percent) went to a second Republican candidate, Gene Decker.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Election Returns: Rapides Parish|publisher=[[Louisiana Secretary of State]]|date=November 6, 2018|accessdate=November 9, 2018}}</ref> However, Hebron was unable to be sworn in because of a constitutional amendment passed in the November 2018 election which prevents felons from holding office for five years after the conclusion of their sentences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gregory |first=Melissa |title=State Supreme Court decision means Hebron won't be Ball mayor |url=https://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2019/03/18/state-supreme-court-decision-means-hebron-wont-ball-mayor/3206523002/ |access-date=March 1, 2022 |website=The Town Talk |language=en-US}}</ref>