The community was originally the site of a Caddo village named Big Springs. The name of the town is believed to have originated from a dinner conversation in New Orleans in which Capt. Edward Smith compared its beauty to the Elysian Fields of Greek Mythology in 1817.[2] Smith and his family settled in the area in the 1830s. In 1910 the community relocated one mile to the west, so it could be linked to a railroad. The community is now the center of the Elysian Fields Independent School District.
The school district has an estimated population of 3,917.[3]