The Perfect Day Trip to Marksville, Louisiana

Restored to perfection, the vintage Sinclair station on Main Street serves as an open-air museum. On Courthouse Square, Solomon Northup, the free Black man sold into slavery whose memoir became the basis for the film “12 Years a Slave,” is memorialized with a bronze statue.

If, like me, you are a fond lover of driving backroads, I recommend Marksville for your next day trip. There are other reasons to go, but on the way, cane and hay fields, as well as the scenic, flooded Bayou des Glaises area near Moreauville on Louisiana Highway 1 North will give you an eyeful. After that pleasant drive, proceed directly to Marksville’s Courthouse Square. There, you’ll find the 13-foot bronze statue “Hope Out of Darkness” by sculptor Wesley Wofford, which was unveiled earlier this year. The statue marks the place where, on Jan. 4, 1853, Solomon Northup — the free Black man from New York kidnapped and sold into slavery whose memoir became the basis for the Academy Award-winning film “12 Years a Slave” — was legally declared a free man. There’s a lot more Marksville history to dig into, but first, lunch.

I’d had every intention of starting my morning at La Petite Affaire, a downtown breakfast and lunch spot on the square with a devoted following, until I discovered it’s closed on weekends. File that under: plan a weekday return trip. Before proceeding to my backup lunch locale, I walked over to the nearby Bloom & Company boutique and florist for a browse. Bloom is a well-edited shop and proof that you don’t have to drive to a bigger city to find something worth buying. Casual and dressy children’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories are displayed alongside a tightly curated selection of tableware, décor and bath and body products, as well as fresh florals. It would be easy to shop for a lot of people on your annual gift lists and grab a cute outfit for yourself. 

When I allude to Marksville being a small city, I mean it has a population of about 5,000. Situated in the heart of Avoyelles Parish, Marksville was founded in 1794 when — according to local lore — a Venetian trader named Marc Eliche (known in Italy as Marco Litche) set up shop after his wagon broke down and, well, he never left. The city sits atop one of the most archaeologically significant landscapes in North America. The Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site, a National Historic Landmark within the city limits, preserves a C-shaped earthen enclosure and six mounds built by the Marksville Culture. This prehistoric Native American civilization flourished in Central Louisiana between 1 and 400 CE. According to 64 Parishes, the pottery styles that defined the culture have been found at sites across Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin — meaning that this small central Louisiana town lent its name to a prehistoric cultural tradition that stretched across the continent.

For this trip, I made the mistake of visiting on a Saturday and missed having breakfast at the highly recommended La Petite Affaire on Main Street. All was not lost, however, as I found delicious sustenance and companiable locals at Broken Wheel Brewery & Bistro. The Tunica-Biloxi Museum and the Paragon Casino Resort, both owned by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, afford opportunities to learn more about history and culture. Yes, even at the casino, which is home to an alligator habitat where you can see rare albino alligators.

Now back to my mission to feed myself, which continued to get delayed, because en route to lunch, I had to pull the car over to check out the vintage Sinclair service station on Main Street. Impeccably restored and operating as a kind of open-air museum, it is a delightful piece of American roadside history. After taking about 234 photos from every angle of the service station, I hopped back in the car and proceeded to lunch at Broken Wheel Brewery & Bistro. Finally, I had a chicken salad on a croissant with sweet potato fries in front of me and not a moment too soon. It was simple, satisfying, flavorful, chock-full of onions, pecans and pineapples, and paired well with a non-alcoholic beer. Burgers, fried seafood and classic Cajun fare are all on the menu. For imbibers, there are plenty of brews — from pale ales to stouts — crafted on-site. The vibe is relaxed and welcoming, as were the locals I struck up conversation with at the bar.

About 1.5 miles from Broken Wheel is Paragon Casino Resort, owned by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, which is an attraction unto itself — even if you’re not there to gamble. With 65,000 square feet of casino floor, more than 500 hotel rooms across three towers, a spa, an 18-hole golf course, a three-screen cinema, multiple dining options and a supervised children’s center, it’s quite the complex. The Bayou Atrium, an alligator habitat, has been a draw since 2007. The atrium got more exciting in July with the addition of two new (very rare) albino alligators to the indoor bayou exhibit. Alligators have deep significance to the Tunica-Biloxi tribe and its origin story, which features the tale of the Blue Alligator and Red Alligator, protectors of the tribe’s people.

Near the casino, the Tunica-Biloxi Museum, which is housed in the tribe’s 40,000-square-foot Cultural and Educational Resources Center, is worth a dedicated visit. The centerpiece is the “Tunica Treasure,” a vast collection of Native American and European trade artifacts deposited as grave goods between 1731 and 1764 — and the subject of a landmark repatriation case that helped shape the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. Life-size dioramas, paintings and guided tours bring the story to life. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana has called this area home since the late 18th century, when they settled on the Avoyelles Prairie following the American Revolution. Their presence today is woven into the fabric of the city.

For outdoor lovers, Spring Bayou Wildlife Management Area, just two miles east of downtown, encompasses more than 12,000 acres of the Red River backwater system, with about 40% of the land covered in bayous, oxbows, open lakes and sloughs. It is prime territory for fishing, boating, kayaking, birding and exploring into the wild Sportsman’s Paradise landscape.

My day ended sweetly back downtown on Main Street at Doodles Sno Shack, a surf-themed snowball and ice cream spot. There was a cheerful little line going when I arrived around 2 p.m. on a Saturday — always a good sign. I went with a cookies ‘n cream on a waffle cone from their selection of hand-scooped Blue Bell ice cream and have zero regrets. It was the perfect punctuation for a day spent discovering that Marksville is a city that rewards curious travelers far beyond what its modest size might suggest.

Location: Marksville

2,000: According to a report in 64 Parishes, the Marksville Culture, a prehistoric Native American civilization based in the lower Mississippi River Valley and for whom the city is named, flourished between 1 and 400 CE — making its distinctive pottery styles roughly 2,000 years old.

5,065 : Marksville’s official population from the 2020 U.S. Census.

12,506: The total acreage of Spring Bayou Wildlife Management Area, just two miles east of town. About 40% of that is blanketed in bayous, oxbows, sloughs and open lakes.