Wikipedia

Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

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]

Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Parish
The Claiborne Parish Courthouse was built in 1860 in Greek style. It served as a point of departure for Confederate troops.
The Claiborne Parish Courthouse was built in 1860 in Greek style. It served as a point of departure for Confederate troops.
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Country United States
State Louisiana
RegionNorth Louisiana
FoundedMarch 15, 1828
Named forWilliam C. C. Claiborne
Parish seatHomer
Largest municipalityLisbon (area)
Homer (population)
Area
 • Total
1,990 km2 (767 sq mi)
 • Land1,960 km2 (755 sq mi)
 • Water30 km2 (13 sq mi)
 • percentage4 km2 (1.6 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
14,170
 • Estimate 
(2021)
14,038
 • Density7.1/km2 (18/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code318
Congressional district4th
WebsiteClaiborne Parish Government

History

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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.[citation needed]

Government and infrastructure

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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

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 767 square miles (1,990 km2), of which 755 square miles (1,960 km2) is land and 13 square miles (34 km2) (1.6%) is water.[11]

Major highways

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Adjacent parishes

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National protected area

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Communities

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Towns

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Villages

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Unincorporated communities

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Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18301,764—
18406,185250.6%
18507,47120.8%
186016,848125.5%
187020,24020.1%
188018,837−6.9%
189023,31223.8%
190023,029−1.2%
191025,0508.8%
192027,88511.3%
193032,28515.8%
194029,855−7.5%
195025,063−16.1%
196019,407−22.6%
197017,024−12.3%
198017,0950.4%
199017,4051.8%
200016,851−3.2%
201017,1952.0%
202014,170−17.6%
2021 (est.)14,038[12]−0.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[13]
1790-1960[14] 1900-1990[15]
1990-2000[16] 2010-2013[2]
Claiborne Parish racial composition as of 2020[17]
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 7,064 49.85%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 6,138 43.32%
Native American 43 0.3%
Asian 42 0.3%
Other/Mixed 404 2.85%
Hispanic or Latino 479 3.38%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,170 people, 5,917 households, and 3,718 families residing in the parish.[17]

Politics

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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).[18] 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).[19]

However, by 2008, U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona easily carried the parish in his losing race to Barack Obama. McCain polled 3,750 votes (54.8 percent) to Obama's 3,025 votes (44.2 percent).[20] 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.[21]

United States presidential election results for Claiborne Parish, Louisiana[22]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2024 3,522 60.56% 2,239 38.50% 55 0.95%
2020 3,770 57.29% 2,731 41.50% 79 1.20%
2016 3,585 55.83% 2,717 42.31% 119 1.85%
2012 3,649 54.20% 3,014 44.77% 69 1.02%
2008 3,750 54.82% 3,025 44.22% 66 0.96%
2004 3,704 55.87% 2,854 43.05% 72 1.09%
2000 3,384 53.88% 2,721 43.32% 176 2.80%
1996 2,500 37.10% 3,609 53.55% 630 9.35%
1992 2,599 37.15% 3,263 46.64% 1,134 16.21%
1988 3,756 53.60% 3,158 45.07% 93 1.33%
1984 4,349 60.29% 2,788 38.65% 77 1.07%
1980 3,538 50.01% 3,443 48.67% 93 1.31%
1976 3,216 51.81% 2,891 46.58% 100 1.61%
1972 3,432 64.08% 1,551 28.96% 373 6.96%
1968 1,117 18.70% 1,545 25.87% 3,311 55.43%
1964 3,917 89.04% 482 10.96% 0 0.00%
1960 1,336 34.67% 489 12.69% 2,029 52.65%
1956 2,084 53.63% 810 20.84% 992 25.53%
1952 2,796 64.63% 1,530 35.37% 0 0.00%
1948 265 9.51% 457 16.40% 2,064 74.08%
1944 578 20.32% 2,266 79.68% 0 0.00%
1940 187 5.78% 3,049 94.22% 0 0.00%
1936 146 5.39% 2,563 94.54% 2 0.07%
1932 61 2.16% 2,765 97.84% 0 0.00%
1928 249 13.76% 1,560 86.24% 0 0.00%
1924 54 4.13% 1,252 95.87% 0 0.00%
1920 48 3.80% 1,216 96.20% 0 0.00%
1916 15 1.16% 1,276 98.76% 1 0.08%
1912 10 1.18% 785 92.24% 56 6.58%

Education

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Claiborne Parish School Board serves the entire parish.[23]

Claiborne Academy is a private institution in an unincorporated area in the parish, near Haynesville.[24]

Notable people

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Prominent Claiborne Parish residents include or have included:

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Harris, D. W.; Hulse, B. M. (1886). The History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. New Orleans, LA: W. H. Stansbury & Company. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "QuickFacts Caliborne Parish, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ^ Burr, Murphy J. "Murrell family pioneered in Claiborne Parish". www.thepineywoods.com/. The Piney Woods Journal. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  5. ^ Volentine, Linda; Herring, Susan T. "Bridges Mill School Remembered". The Guardian-Journal. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  6. ^ Herring, Susan T. (April 29, 1999). ""Father Of Claiborne Parish" John Murrell Arrived In August Of 1819". www.usgwarchives.net/. The Guardian-Journal. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  7. ^ Harris, D. W.; Hulse, B. M., eds. (1886). The History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, From Its Incorporation in 1828 to the Close of the Year 1885. New Orleans: W. B. Stansbury & Co. pp. 19–20, 103.
  8. ^ "Russellville: Ghost Town of Claiborne Parish". claiborneone.org. Archived from the original on July 7, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  9. ^ "David Wade Corr. Center Archived 2011-01-27 at the Wayback Machine." 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. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  12. ^ "QuickFacts Claiborne Parish, Louisiana". Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  13. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  14. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  15. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  16. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  17. ^ a b "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  18. ^ "Claiborne Parish presidential election returns, November 8, 1988". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  19. ^ "Claiborne Parish presidential election returns, November 5, 1996". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  20. ^ "Claiborne Parish presidential election returns". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  21. ^ "Claiborne Parish presidential election returns, November 6, 2012". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  22. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  23. ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Claiborne Parish, LA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved February 11, 2024. - Text list
  24. ^ "image007.gif Archived 2011-06-27 at the Wayback Machine." Claiborne Academy. Retrieved on October 2, 2010. "6741 Highway 19, Haynesville, LA 71038."
  25. ^ Bibb, Henry (1849). Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself. New York: The Author.
  26. ^ "T H Harris 1925 bio - Claiborne LAGenWeb". www.lagenweb.org. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  27. ^ "Andrew R Johnson 1925 bio - Claiborne LAGenWeb". www.lagenweb.org. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  28. ^ "John Killen Home". Minden Memories. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  29. ^ "Joe C. LeSage, Jr., obituary". The Shreveport Times. September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  30. ^ "Congressman George Mahon Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  31. ^ "Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880-2024" (PDF). senate.louisiana.gov. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  32. ^ "Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880-2024" (PDF). senate.louisiana.gov. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  33. ^ "Lake Charles American-Press from Lake Charles, Louisiana". Newspapers.com. December 15, 1965. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  34. ^ Exhibit, Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, Homer, Louisiana
  35. ^ Wade Room, Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, Homer, Louisiana
  36. ^ "Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012" (PDF). house.louisiana.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  37. ^ admin. "Mule Watson – Society for American Baseball Research". sabr.org. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  38. ^ "State Rep. Wilkerson Killed in Auto Accident". house.legis.state.la.us. August 1, 2000. Archived from the original on March 6, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  39. ^ "Sheriff Pat Garrett Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  40. ^ "Restaurant inspired by popular Lake Claiborne eatery coming to Cross Lake". Shreveport Times. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
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32°49′N 92°59′W / 32.82°N 92.99°W / 32.82; -92.99

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