Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

Claiborne Parish (Template:Langx) is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1828,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and was named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,170.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The parish seat is Homer.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="John Murrell-First Settler, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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

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.<ref>"David Wade Corr. Center Template:Webarchive." Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Accessed September 14, 2008.</ref><ref>"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[...]"</ref>

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (1.6%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

• File:I-69 (Future).svg Future Interstate 69
• File:US 79.svg U.S. Highway 79
• File:Louisiana 2 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 2
• File:Louisiana 9 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 9

Adjacent parishes

• Columbia County, Arkansas (northwest)
• Union County, Arkansas (northeast)
• Union Parish (east)
• Lincoln Parish (southeast)
• Bienville Parish (south)
• Webster Parish (west)

National protected area

• Kisatchie National Forest (part)

Communities

File:Map of Claiborne Parish Louisiana With Municipal Labels.PNG

Towns

• Haynesville
• Homer (parish seat and largest municipality)

Villages

• Athens
• Lisbon
• Junction City

Unincorporated communities

• Arizona
• Colquitt
• Lake Claiborne
• Marsalis
• Russellville
• Sugar Creek
• Summerfield
• Weldon

Demographics

Claiborne Parish racial composition as of 2020<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name=":0" />

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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Claiborne Parish School Board serves the entire parish.<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

Claiborne Academy is a private institution in an unincorporated area in the parish, near Haynesville.<ref>"image007.gif Template:Webarchive." Claiborne Academy. Retrieved on October 2, 2010. "6741 Highway 19, Haynesville, LA 71038."</ref>

Notable people

Prominent Claiborne Parish residents include or have included:

• Henry Walton Bibb American author, abolitionist, and former slave from 1839 to 1841 <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• T. H. Harris, state education superintendent from 1908 to 1940.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Andrew R. Johnson was a state senator from Claiborne and Bienville parishes from 1916 to 1924.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• John Sidney Killen, state representative for Claiborne Parish in 1871<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Joe LeSage, state senator for Caddo Parish from 1968 to 1972; Shreveport attorney born in Homer<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• George H. Mahon, Former U.S. Representative.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• James T. McCalman, state senator from Claiborne and Bienville parishes from 1960 to 1964.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Danny Roy Moore, state senator from 1964 to 1968.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Dave L. Pearce, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry from 1952 to 1956 and 1960–1976.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Larry Sale, sheriff of Claiborne Parish from 1936 to 1944; bodyguard at the assassination of Huey Pierce Long Jr.<ref>Exhibit, Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, Homer, Louisiana</ref>
• Richard Stalder, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
• David Wade, Lieutenant General of the United States Air Force.<ref>Wade Room, Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, Homer, Louisiana</ref>
• Loy F. Weaver, state representative from 1976 to 1984.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Mule Watson, pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1918 to 1924.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pinkie C. Wilkerson state representative from 1992 to 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Patrick Floyd Garrett, Sheriff of Lincoln County New Mexico, and killer of Billy the Kid.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gallery

• Claiborne Parish Library in Homer, Louisiana
  Claiborne Parish Library in Homer, Louisiana
• Begun by Ruth Gantt Prince (1928-2014) and owned and operated by Daniel and Caitlin Prince, the Port-au-Prince Restaurant on Louisiana Highway 146 at Lake Claiborne specializes in catfish. The Princes are opening a second similar restaurant on Cross Lake in Shreveport.
  The Port-au-Prince Restaurant on Louisiana Highway 146 at Lake Claiborne.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Rolled hay in a farm field north of Athens (May 2010)
  Rolled hay in a farm field north of Athens (May 2010)
• Typical of parts of rural Louisiana is this abandoned house in western Claiborne Parish.
  Abandoned house in western Claiborne Parish.
• Claiborne Parish Sheriff's Department in Homer, Louisiana
  Claiborne Parish Sheriff's Department in Homer, Louisiana
• Holly Springs Baptist Church west of Homer on U.S. Highway 79 is among rural congregations in Claiborne Parish. It has maintained a small cemetery since 1952 located across the highway from the sanctuary.
  Holly Springs Baptist Church west of Homer on U.S. Highway 79
• Claiborne Academy
  Claiborne Academy

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

External links

• Claiborne Parish official website
• Water Resources of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana United States Geological Survey