By Jessica Gorman

Located north of Minden, west of Dorcheat Road, Long Springs was named for Joseph Davis Long who moved his family from Virginia to Louisiana in the late 1830s. They made their home near the sulphur springs that became a popular destination even before the existence of the hotel. It was after the deaths of both Mr. and Mrs. Long that the hotel, referred to in a local paper as The White House, was built in the early 1880s by a group of investors. The resort remained popular for nearly twenty years before going out of business. It was then purchased by A.L. Cox and became the private residence of the Cox family until it burned in 1927. 

Webster Tribune, 20 September 1883

“Minden is the only town in Louisiana that has a fashionable resort. Long Springs, situated four miles northwest, has properties in its waters that cure everything. It has a large hotel, and a band of music that plays before meals to assist the water in getting up a first-class appetite. The band also plays after meals to assist in digestion.

(Jessica Gorman is the Assistant Director and Archivist for the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum in Minden and is an avid genealogist.)