Claiborne Parish, Louisiana Explained

Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Image Map1:Louisiana in United States.svg
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:Region
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:March 15, 1828
Seat1 Type:Largest municipality
Seat1:Lisbon (area)
Homer (population)
Area Total Sq Mi:767
Area Land Sq Mi:755
Area Water Sq Mi:13
Area Blank1 Title:percentage
Area Blank1 Sq Mi:1.6
Population Total:14170
Pop Est As Of:2021
Population Est:14038
Population Density Sq Mi:auto
Utc Offset1:-6
Utc Offset1 Dst:-5
Area Code Type:Area code
Blank Name Sec1:Congressional district

Claiborne Parish (French: Paroisse de Claiborne) is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1828,[1] and was named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,170.[2] The parish seat is Homer.[3]

History

John Murrell moved his family from Arkansas to the Flat Lick Bayou area about 6 miles west of present-day Homer in 1818, and they became the first known non-natives to permanently settle in Claiborne Parish. As more settlers moved into the area, the Murrell house served as a church, school and post office. When the state legislature created Claiborne Parish out of Natchitoches Parish in 1828, all governmental business, including court, began being held in the Murrell house. This continued until the new parish's police jury selected Russellville (now a ghost town located northeast of Athens) as the parish seat.[4] [5] [6] As the population began swelling in what was then the western part of the parish, the seat was moved to Overton (another modern ghost town found near Minden) in 1836, because of its position at the head of the navigable portion of Dorcheat Bayou. Due to flooding and health concerns, the parish seat was moved to Athens in 1846, but an 1848 fire destroyed the courthouse and all the records in it. Soon thereafter the Claiborne Police Jury chose the present site for the parish seat, which came to be named, Homer.[7] [8]

Much of the area history is preserved in the Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, located across from the parish courthouse in Homer.

Government and infrastructure

Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections operates the David Wade Correctional Center in an unincorporated section of Claiborne Parish near Homer and Haynesville.[9] [10]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of, of which is land and (1.6%) is water.[11]

Major highways

Adjacent parishes

National protected area

Communities

Towns

Villages

Unincorporated communities

Demographics

Race!scope="col"
NumberPercentage
White (non-Hispanic)7,06449.85%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)6,13843.32%
Native American430.3%
Asian420.3%
Other/Mixed4042.85%
Hispanic or Latino4793.38%
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,170 people, 5,917 households, and 3,718 families residing in the parish.

Politics

With a narrow majority of African Americans in the population, Claiborne Parish in the years after the civil rights movement was primarily Democratic in political complexion. In 1988, Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush prevailed in Claiborne Parish with 3,756 votes (53.6 percent). Governor Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts trailed with 3,158 votes (45.1 percent).[12] In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas, obtained 3,609 votes (53.6 percent) in Claiborne Parish. Republican Bob Dole of Kansas polled 2,500 votes (37.1 percent).[13]

However, by 2008, U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona easily carried the parish in his losing race to Barack H. Obama. McCain polled 3,750 votes (54.8 percent) to Obama's 3,025 votes (44.2 percent).[14] In 2012, Mitt Romney carried the parish, with 3,649 votes (54.2 percent), nearly identical to the McCain tally four years earlier. President Obama received 3,014 votes (44.8 percent), or .6 of 1 percent greater than his earlier tabulation.[15]

Education

Claiborne Parish School Board serves the entire parish.[16]

Claiborne Academy is a private institution in an unincorporated area in the parish, near Haynesville.[17]

Notable people

Prominent Claiborne Parish residents include or have included:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Harris. D. W.. Hulse. B. M.. The History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. 1886. W. H. Stansbury & Company. New Orleans, LA. September 3, 2014.
  2. Web site: QuickFacts Caliborne Parish, Louisiana. United States Census Bureau. September 7, 2022.
  3. Web site: Find a County . June 7, 2011 . National Association of Counties . https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx . May 31, 2011 .
  4. Web site: Burr. Murphy J.. Murrell family pioneered in Claiborne Parish. www.thepineywoods.com/. The Piney Woods Journal. December 14, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001755/http://www.thepineywoods.com/MurrellN06.htm. March 4, 2016.
  5. Web site: Volentine. Linda. Herring. Susan T.. Bridges Mill School Remembered. The Guardian-Journal. December 15, 2014.
  6. Web site: Herring. Susan T.. "Father Of Claiborne Parish" John Murrell Arrived In August Of 1819. www.usgwarchives.net/. The Guardian-Journal. December 15, 2014. April 29, 1999.
  7. Book: Harris. D. W.. Hulse. B. M.. The History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, From Its Incorporation in 1828 to the Close of the Year 1885. 1886. W. B. Stansbury & Co.. New Orleans. 19–20, 103.
  8. Web site: Russellville: Ghost Town of Claiborne Parish. claiborneone.org. July 8, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100707005308/http://www.claiborneone.org/homer/russellville.html. July 7, 2010.
  9. "David Wade Corr. Center ." Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Accessed September 14, 2008.
  10. "Inmate wants his privileges restored." The Advocate. January 11, 1990. Retrieved on October 2, 2010. "But Mule was transferred to Wade Correctional Center in Haynesville[...]"
  11. Web site: 2010 Census Gazetteer Files . https://web.archive.org/web/20130928155956/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_22.txt . September 28, 2013 . United States Census Bureau . August 27, 2014 . August 22, 2012 .
  12. Web site: Claiborne Parish presidential election returns, November 8, 1988. staticresults.sos.la.gov. November 11, 2012.
  13. Web site: Claiborne Parish presidential election returns, November 5, 1996. staticresults.sos.la.gov. November 11, 2012.
  14. Web site: Claiborne Parish presidential election returns. staticresults.sos.la.gov. November 11, 2012.
  15. Web site: Claiborne Parish presidential election returns, November 6, 2012. staticresults.sos.la.gov. November 11, 2012.
  16. Web site: 2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Claiborne Parish, LA. U.S. Census Bureau. February 11, 2024. - Text list
  17. "image007.gif ." Claiborne Academy. Retrieved on October 2, 2010. "6741 Highway 19, Haynesville, LA 71038."
  18. Book: Bibb, Henry . 1849 . Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself . New York . The Author .
  19. Web site: T H Harris 1925 bio - Claiborne LAGenWeb . April 19, 2024 . www.lagenweb.org.
  20. Web site: Andrew R Johnson 1925 bio - Claiborne LAGenWeb . April 19, 2024 . www.lagenweb.org.
  21. Web site: John Killen Home. Minden Memories. March 16, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20110718213148/http://www.mindenmemories.org/Residential%20M-Z.htm. July 18, 2011. usurped.
  22. News: Joe C. LeSage, Jr., obituary. The Shreveport Times. September 24, 2015. September 27, 2015.
  23. Web site: Congressman George Mahon Historical Marker . April 19, 2024 . www.hmdb.org . en.
  24. Web site: Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880-2024. senate.louisiana.gov . April 19, 2024.
  25. Web site: Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880-2024. senate.louisiana.gov . April 19, 2024.
  26. Web site: December 15, 1965 . Lake Charles American-Press from Lake Charles, Louisiana . April 19, 2024 . Newspapers.com . en-us.
  27. Exhibit, Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, Homer, Louisiana
  28. Wade Room, Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, Homer, Louisiana
  29. Web site: Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012 . house.louisiana.gov . September 5, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100331104823/http://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembers1812_2008.pdf . March 31, 2010 .
  30. Web site: admin . Mule Watson – Society for American Baseball Research . April 19, 2024 . sabr.org . en-US.
  31. Web site: State Rep. Wilkerson Killed in Auto Accident. August 1, 2000. house.legis.state.la.us. September 26, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110306100010/http://house.legis.state.la.us/pubinfo/Press_Releases/wilkerson_auto_accident.htm. March 6, 2011.
  32. Web site: Sheriff Pat Garrett Historical Marker . April 19, 2024 . www.hmdb.org . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Claiborne Parish, Louisiana".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.