Mossville, Louisiana facts for kids
Mossville is a small, predominantly African American unincorporated community on the outskirts of Lake Charles in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area and is sandwiched between Sulphur to the west and Westlake to the east. With the Sasol expansion project almost all of the homes north of Old Spanish Trail have now been either moved to other locations or torn down and the land completely deforested.
The community is featured in the 2002 documentary film Blue Vinyl, which focuses on the health effects of nearby polyvinyl chloride factories on community members. The film features footage of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade collecting air samples to determine the toxicity of the community's air. Some of its last residents were documented in the 2019 film Mossville, When Great Trees Fall which played at festivals around the world and broadcast nationally on PBS.
History
Mossville was founded by Jack Moss, an ex-slave, beginning in 1790. This was more than fifty years before the creation of Imperial Calcasieu Parish. Over the years the hamlet grew to more than 600 residents but was never incorporated. The main roads are the Old Spanish Trail (East Burton Street), Prater Road, and extends west to the Sulphur city limits and Evergreen Road. When the project is complete Mossville will like cease to exist.
Sasol
Vista Chemical Company purchased Conoco Chemical Company in July 1984. In March 1996, Vista Chemical Company became Condea Vista Company. Sasol bought Condea Vista in 2000. Sasol is the apartheid-era South African synthetic oil company that helped the apartheid South African government avoid the late 1960s international oil embargo.
The Sasol project that includes the ethane cracker complex, over 3 square miles with an estimated at $8.1 billion cost, and is named the Lake Charles Chemical Projects. This replaces the previously named Ethane Cracker Projects and Lake Charles Cracker Projects.
All of the streets north of Old Spanish Trail within the Mossville community has been absorbed into Sasol by the property being bought through the voluntary land purchase program and closed to the public. These streets include VCM Plant road, Center street, 1st through 8th avenue, Michigan avenue, Lincoln avenue, Laurel avenue, and Rigmaiten avenue. Evergreen street near the Sulphur city limits is also included in the closures. The entire area has been deforested with major ongoing construction.
History preservation
Sasol, through a $275,000 donation, funded the Mossville History Project with the Imperial Calcasieu Museum. The goal is to "capture, record, preserve and make available Mossville’s written and oral history."
