OSYKA METHODIST CHURCH

Keeping the tradition

Home  Church History  Town History  Lots of Pictures  Maps and Trips 
NAVIGATE:
Osyka, MS is located 2 miles east of I-55, about 4 miles north of Kentwood, LA and just across the Louisiana/Mississippi state line. Take Exit 1 off I-55 and drive 2 miles east... you can't miss it unless you blink! It is almost exactly 90 miles south of Jackson and 90 miles north of New Orleans. The old Methodist Church is at 155 1st Street. Just ask anyone in town for directions!

Osyka’s history dates back to 1812, when Jesse Redmond, who is today considered its founder, arrived here from the East Coast. Jesse traveled to Mississippi Territory and settled in what is the East side of Osyka, near the Tangipahoa River. He fought with Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. He married Elizabeth Calter in 1825 and reared his children in Osyka.

The name Osyka comes from Miss Osyka. Legend has it that this Choctaw Indian princess died and was buried near Gardner Springs. The springs are located near Tate Ott’s pasture. Her father a Choctaw Chief asked the founding Fathers to name the town in her honor. Osyka means “Soaring Eagle” in Choctaw.

Osyka is located in Southwest Pike County. It is 100 miles South of Jackson, Mississippi and 90 miles North of New Orleans. It is one square mile, 640 acres, located at Section 35, Township 1N and Range 7E. The town has never had a population greater than 1000.

The New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad began Osyka’s development. It took one year to map and 3 years to construct the original 88 miles to the Louisiana/Mississippi state line at Osyka. Irish and slave labor was used to build the railroad using Indian Trails. Carter’s Hill at Chatawa, a near by town, furnished the gravel for the railroad. The first trip was made on August 17, 1854 and left New Orleans at 7:00AM and arrived in Osyka at 1:00PM. The Railroad opened officially on August 23, 1854, almost 149 years ago to date. The town built up rapidly with country trade from the nearby towns of Holmesville, Covington, Baton Rouge and Natchez.

The “New Orleans” was the first locomotive on the line. It was a wood burner and built by the Baldwin Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was shipped via sailing vessel to New Orleans in December of 1853. Other locomotives were named “Creole”, “Southerner” & “Dart”. During the Civil War the railroad was in ruins, with burned buildings and bridges and twisted rails. From 1863 to 1865 the railroad was out of use from Ponchatoula, Louisiana to Brookhaven, Mississippi. In the late 1860’s, P.G.T. Beauregard, a famous Confederate States of America General, reconstructed the railroad. The West double track was laid in 1903 and increased traffic in lumber, gravel, other freight and mail.