Editing Vinton, Louisiana (section)

===Agriculture===
Knapp completed the founding of Vinton. Precisely what brought him to Louisiana is unclear, but he certainly had a keen interest in agriculture, especially the improvement of farming methods. Formerly the president of the Iowa Agricultural College in Ames (now [[Iowa State University]], Knapp arrived in Lake Charles in 1884 and went to work running an agricultural business for land developer Jabez B. Watkins. In 1887, he quit his job with Watkins and opened his own land company (some sources claim that Knapp started his company in 1885, but the evidence is inconclusive).

Watkins was a native of [[Lawrence, Kansas]], who came to Lake Charles in 1883. Using English capital, Watkins bought {{convert|500000|acre|km2}} of prairie and marshland in southwest Louisiana. To bring in settlers, he advertised in newspapers across the nation. It is assumed that Knapp was one of the settlers that Watkins attracted to the area. It is also assumed that Knapp was the leading force behind the first settler in what would become the township of Vinton.

Knapp purchased from the [[US government]] the {{convert|160|acre|km2|adj=on}} tract of land that would form the basis of the town. At the time, he paid $2.50 an acre. On October 17, 1887, Robert F. Evans, also an Iowa native, purchased an additional {{convert|640|acre|km2}}. The sources are unclear if the acreage was then sold to Knapp or to George Horridge. The records nonetheless show that the Southern Real Estate and Guaranty Company had bought all the land tracts by April 1889. The land was divided into lots and sold at prices ranging between $10 and $25 each. In time, 30 blocks extended the original 12-block plot of land. When the post office was registered with the US Postmaster General, Vinton, Knapp's Iowa hometown, was chosen as the name of the settlement, but when the Postmaster designated the name, he left no explanation for his choice so there is some doubt about the origin of the name. In a 2013 article on the town, the ''Advocate'' asserted that Knapp indeed named Vinton, Louisiana, "after his hometown of [[Vinton, Iowa]]."<ref>{{cite news
|title = Vinton, Louisiana: Founded by famous ag innovator
|date = February 18, 2013
|newspaper = Advocate
|location = Baton Rouge
|page = 6D
}}</ref>

It is possible that Knapp was responsible for the large influx of settlers from Vinton, Iowa. The Horridge, Stevenson, Eddie, Ferguson, Stockwell, Morgan, Nelson, Fairchild, Banker, Hall, and Haskill families were Iowa transplants. Some streets still bear the name of those families. Shortly after construction of the first homes came a sawmill, the Methodist Church, and the first public school building. In 1890, Mrs. Mabel K. Kelly became the first teacher in Vinton. A larger school replaced the older structure in 1901.