Mission:

The Bogalusa Chamber of Commerce...
A group of people - primarily business people, professionals, and concerned citizens - working together to make our community a better place to live, work and prosper.

History:

Among Louisiana cities, there perhaps is none whose short history is more interesting and unique than that of the City of Bogalusa.  The very name “Bogalusa” is copyrighted.  “The Magic City,” “The Green Empire,” — slogans of past years, are as appropriate today as they were when the axe felled the first tree to carve from a virgin pine forest the community destined to be an industrial cities of the South.

Bogalusa is situated on the eastern border of Washington Parish in the “Florida Parishes” section of Louisiana on the Pearl River (the dividing line between Louisiana and Mississippi), and is the chief manufacturing and trading center of the Pearl River Valley.  Reputed to have been the largest unincorporated community in the nation at that time, Bogalusa was incorporated July 4, 1914, with a commission form of government.

The name “Bogalusa” is derived from the Indian named creek “Bogue Lusa,” which flows through the city, the definition of which is smoky or dark waters.  Bogalusa owes its birth to the enterprise of the Goodyear interests of Buffalo, New York, who established the lumber industry here in 1906, and erected the Great Southern Lumber Company plant.  This plant became the largest pine sawmill in the world.  Today International Paper ranks as one of the outstanding manufacturers of Kraft Liner Board and Kraft Bag Paper in the nation.