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

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. 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.

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."David Wade Corr. Center ." Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Accessed September 14, 2008."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[...]"

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

Major highways Future Interstate 69 U.S. Highway 63 U.S. Highway 79 U.S. Highway 167 Louisiana Highway 2

Louisiana Highway 9 Louisiana Highway 146 Louisiana Highway 152 Louisiana Highway 154 Louisiana Highway 161 Louisiana Highway 518 Louisiana Highway 519 Louisiana Highway 520 Louisiana Highway 521 Louisiana Highway 533 Louisiana Highway 534 Louisiana Highway 540 Louisiana Highway 615 Louisiana Highway 805 Louisiana Highway 806 Louisiana Highway 807 Louisiana Highway 808 Louisiana Highway 3062

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

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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the parish had a population of 14,170, 5,498 households, and 3,718 families. The median age was 45.0 years; 18.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 114.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 118.5 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the parish was 51.3% White, 43.6% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.5% from some other race, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.4% of the population.

<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 5,498 households in the parish, of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 37.5% were married-couple households, 22.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 6,775 housing units in the parish, of which 18.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 74.2% were owner-occupied and 25.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.6%.

Racial and ethnic composition

+Claiborne Parish, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)9,0329,3008,6798,0847,06452.83%53.43%51.50%47.01%49.85%Black or African American alone (NH)7,8518,0227,9258,7076,13845.93%46.09%47.03%50.64%43.32%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2282459430.01%0.16%0.14%0.34%0.30%Asian alone (NH)10131439420.06%0.07%0.08%0.23%0.30%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census210xx0.01%0.01%0.00%Other race alone (NH)13222210.08%0.01%0.01%0.01%0.15%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census77132383xx0.46%0.77%2.70%Hispanic or Latino (any race)187401281714791.09%0.23%0.76%0.99%3.38%Total17,09517,40516,85117,19514,170 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

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 H. W. 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). 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).

However, by 2008, Senator John McCain 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). In 2012, Mitt Romney carried the parish, with 3,649 votes (54.2 percent), nearly identical to McCain's tally four years earlier. President Obama received 3,014 votes (44.8 percent), a 0.6% increase.

Education Claiborne Parish School Board serves the entire parish. - Text list

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

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

Gallery

See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

References

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