A broken wagon wheel welcomes travelers to the City of Marksville. The wagon wheel is the official symbol for the city.
A double take is understandable but not necessary.
Your eyes weren't deceiving you when passing the city sign welcoming you to Marksville. You are, indeed, seeing a broken wagon wheel, not only on the sign but also the water tower and in front of City Hall.
Baker Boyd of Baker saw it while on a drive and had to look twice. Then he began wondering why a town would designate a broken wagon wheel as its official symbol.
Well, the answer is simple, almost unbelievably simple. Why? Because it's truly a story of fate.
Basically, a man was passing through in the late 1700s when one of the wheels of his horse-drawn wagon broke.
Did it hit a bad rut in the road? Maybe. Then again, maybe not. Who knows if there was a clear-cut road for him to follow at that time?
A plaque at Marksville's City Hall displays the symbol of Marksville's founding.
Still, that's the gist of the story. Of course, the full, historical account is more detailed and actually leads to the naming of Marksville.
"We have a book that tells the story, and it's really the only story about this," said Mary Guillory, associated director of the Avoyelles Commission of Tourism. "It's a story that says, 'tradition has it,' so it's been passed down. But it's the only story about this."
She's right. There is no deviating from or embellishing of this story, which is straightforward in its storytelling.
The book, "Avoyelles: Crossroads of Louisiana," was compiled by La Commission des Avoyelles and released in 1981 by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans.
As the traditional story goes, Italian trader Mark Eliche was "moving through the area in his wagon (and) was forced to stop when one of his wagon wheels broke down."
That was in 1794.
The motto "Where everybody is somebody" is displayed on a City of Marksville water tower, along with the city's official symbol of a broken wagon wheel.
"While coping with the problem of repairing the wagon, the adventurer found what the Indians had known for centuries; this was such a beautiful country with its green prairies and moss-hung shade trees along the bayous and lakes that he could hardly leave it," the story continues. "He was also impressed with the friendliness of the Indians."
"So, he never traveled any further," Guillory said. "And he married Julie Carmouche, who lived in Pointe Coupee Parish."
That was two years later, in 1796. The couple set up a trading post just south of the site of the present Marksville City Hall site.
"He also obtained a land grant from obliging Spanish officials upon which to locate his home," the story continues. "Naturally, the location became an association with the name of the trading post owner, and 'Marc’s Ville,' or 'Marc’s Village,' or 'Marc’s Farm' in the old French was an easy transition by Americans to the name 'Marksville'."
Broken Wheel Brewery opened in 2015 in Marksville.
The site was recognized on United States survey maps as early as 1809 with a population of 1,209 people.
The city's story can be found on a state marker standing on Main Street in front of the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse. As for the broken wagon wheel, the symbol can be found throughout the city, as well as in logos on its website, cityofmarksville.org.
And in 2015, the Broken Wheel Brewery & Bistro opened its doors at 109 Tunica Drive, commemorating the symbol of its city's founding.
Marc Eliche broke down there and decided to stay, and that's all there is to tell.