Fullerton is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Vernon Parish

Vernon Parish, Louisiana

Vernon Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Leesville and as of 2000, the population was 52,531....

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Fullerton was once an industrial community based around a large lumber mill

Factory

A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...

. On October 24, 1986, the community and mill were added to the NRHP

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 as Fullerton Mill and Town because of their role in industry and in the development of housing for the mill workers.

Conflict of name

In addition to its current name, it was believed to have been known as "Russville" at a point. The official usage has been "Fullerton" since 1975, when the Board on Geographic Names

United States Board on Geographic Names

The United States Board on Geographic Names is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S. government.-Overview:...

ruled against the usage of "Russville." Although it is unclear the reasoning behind the attempted name change there is evidence that the name Russville was used on a map. The term "official" usage comes about because of the ruling but the mill and community known as "Fullerton" has been the common name since the beginning. The name "Russville" possibly came about because of an error.

The sawmill

Fullerton mill was ahead of its time especially for a sawmill. Built entirely of steel, iron, and concrete with no combustible materials. On a 10 hour shift the mill produced 400,000 board feet. A 50,000 gallon water storage tank provided water for the mill with a 1000 gallon per minute fire pump. There were 25 planners and 12 dry-kilns capable of processing 400,000 board feet.
The loading dock was protected by a roof and was built so that thirty rail cars could be loaded at one time. A trolley system was in place so a loaded rail car could be transported to different location in the mill according to need.

The community

400 houses were built for white workers of from five to seven rooms that included running water to every house and a bathroom and toilet. There were 144 cottages for the "colored workers" and all the houses had electricity. The layout of the community was well planned with streets and avenues. There was a two story hospital, a 45 room two-story hotel, and a church that seated 1000. There was also a school, commissary, department store, drug store, meat market, cold storage room, barber shop, billiard hall, and post office.

Turpentine mill

There was a turpentine mill that was part of the Fullerton mill, but situated approximately two miles south, and a supporting community in between that included 129 cottages, a commissary, church, school (that provided an education to both communities), meat market, and a building that provided cold drinks and ice cream. There was also a train depot. This community was known as Rustville. The turpentine mill and community was named after Paul D. Rust, the secretary of Gulf Lumber Company, from Boston.

End of an era

The final log, that had been saved for twenty years for the occasion, was cut on Friday, May 6, 1927. The final whistle blew signaling the end of an era as well as the demise of a mighty sawmill and community.