In 1868 there was a small country church where the people of the area met for services every Sunday. The building had fallen into a state of disrepair, so the members decided to build a new church. The new building was completed in 1869, yet remained nameless. Mrs. Sarepta Carter donated a large Bible to the church, leading the congregation to name the church in her honor. It is now known as Old Sarepta Baptist Church.
Mr. J. I. Allen built a small general store about a half mile from the church in 1879. This spot was known as the “Old Hickory Tree.” This area was near the Tee Carraway property, where the present Mayor of Sarepta, Peggy Carraway Adkins, grew up. It is now owned by her son, Clay Adkins.
The settlement now had a church, cemetery, a store and a few farms. The store became known as “the store over at Sarepta.”
The mail was brought from Bellevue once a week on horseback. Later in 1884, the post office was established as Sarepta. The post master was Mr. J. I. Allen.
It wasn’t until 1953, that three local townsmen in the community knocked on the door of Mr. Richard Griffin and asked him to help lead the effort to incorporate the town. Mr. Griffin agreed to the task and traveled to Baton Rouge to visit Governor Earl Long. On July 1, 1955, the governor incorporated the town into a village.
Richard Griffin served as mayor for nine years. He lost out to Tommy Cave in 1964 and Mr. Cave served for 12 years. Mr. Griffin came back in July 1976 and served until November 78 and resigned. Johnny Paxton filled the position until 1981, when he resigned after 3 years as mayor. Danny Anderson became mayor in 1982 and served 2 years and resigned in 1984. Logan Weible filled the position until his resignation in 1986. Bo Allen was mayor from 1986 until he died in 1992.
By 1987, the town had grown to a population of 1,000 and Governor Edwin Edwards signed a proclamation declaring the village a town.
E.L. Edwards finished out Bo Allen’s term as mayor. Pam Dorsey became the first female mayor in 1993 and lost out to E. L. Edwards in 1997. E. L. Edwards was mayor until his death in November 2013, lacking 3 years finishing out his term. Peggy Adkins served those three years and has continued to serve as mayor since.
