Rhodes is a town in Allen Parish, Louisiana, located in the Scarlett Meadows region of the state. It was founded by and named for US Army Brigadier-General Sherman M. Rhodes, and many of its early settlers were of Scottish descent, notably including the Gray family. At one time Rhodes stood as a "true small town jewel" according to the Saint Denis Times Tribune, with tobacco and cotton production booming and bringing an era of hope and prosperity that lasted even after the American Civil War. However, by 1899, many worried that prosperity was now on the decline. Production of crops was down, andd the last two surviving big plantation families - the Grays and the Braithwaite family - while always bitter rivals, increased hostilities as the economic downturn worsened. With the emancipation of slaves and acrimonious attitudes persisting after the Civil War, some worried a massive northern migration of African-American workers and farm hands could spell trouble for the region as a whole and especially town like Rhodes. During the Jim Crow era, the Hobart H. Crawley Monument was erected in the town square to honor the townspeople who were killed in action while serving in the Confederate States Army during the war.
