Boyce, LA

Boyce is a town in northern Rapides Parish on the Red River, about 16 miles west of Alexandria. The 2020 census counted 888 residents. Bayous run around the town, and a Red River island north of town was formed when the river channel was straightened by the Army Corps of Engineers. Northwood High School serves the area, while the river and the Alexandria metro shape work, school, and service trips. The water still sets the edges of town and the rhythm of its older story.

The settlement began as Cotile Landing, a steamboat stop on the Red River. Its name changed to Boyce in 1880 when the Texas and Pacific Railroad made the town its terminal point. Judge Henry Boyce owned the land, and in 1882 he gave the streets Irish names, a detail still visible on the town map. Boyce grew from river traffic and railroad movement, with bayous, landings, and the long Red River corridor giving the place its Louisiana character.