Claiborne Parish was created from Natchitoches Parish by Act No. 42
of the Louisiana General Assembly approved March 13, 1828, and named in
honor of the first American governor of Louisiana, William Charles Cole
Claiborne.
Known as the "Banner Parish" of North Louisiana, the original Claiborne Parish extended for approximately 64 miles east of the Red River along the northern border of Louisiana and extended south a distance of approximately 60 miles. From the original parish, the following parishes were formed entirely or in part: Bossier, Jackson, Bienville, Red River, Webster, Lincoln and Claiborne Parishes. The region was originally filled with a host of wild game, including buffalo, deer, and turkey. The tradition of hunting wild game continues to be a favorite sport of many local citizens.
After the parish's first cotton gin was erected in 1824, cotton became the leading agricultural crop, and home to the state's first cotton factory. As recently as 1930 Claiborne Parish had more than 105,000 acres of cotton, which was the largest acreage of any parish in Louisiana. No cotton is grown in the parish at the present time, nor is any likely to be grown in the foreseeable future.
Around 1920, oil was discovered near both Homer and Haynesville with the latter town becoming a boomtown hosting a population of approximately 20,000 persons, which is more than the population of the entire parish today.
The parish seats have been located in Russellville (1828-1836), Overton (1836-1846, in present day Webster Parish), Athens (1846-1849), now known as Old Athens), and Homer (1849-present). The courthouse at Old Athens along with all parish records were destroyed by fire on November 6, 1849.
Homer, the present day parish seat, was named for the Greek poet by the same name. The town was "laid out on a gentle rolling hill in the forest" around a courthouse square in 1850. The courthouse was built in the Greek Revival style of architecture and is one of only four pre-civil war courthouses still in use in Louisiana today. The building, completed in 1860, cost $12,304.36. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Anglo-Saxon and African influence, rather than the French who settled the southern part of Louisiana sets the trends in culture, architecture, and traditions. Citizens of Claiborne Parish can take pride in the fact that the stewardship of our cultural traditions is stronger here than in most rural communities within commuting distances of cities and universities.
From time to time The Guardian-Journal staff researches the who, what, when, where, why, and how of Claiborne Parish history. Although we don't always find answers, we do what we can...
Part 1: The Rabid Dog - Wholesale destruction has been caused by a rabid dog which was the property of John H. Tuggle. Before the dog could be destroyed, he bit a fine bull and several cows...
Part 2: W. W. Ramsey Killed - It will be remembered that J. H. Ramsey shot and wounded J. D. Tuggle a few weeks [ago] in this place with a shotgun...
Part 3: Tuggle and Glover Ambushed - We learn that John Ramsey has left the country, and that his father and family will soon move away. It is a deplorable state of affairs, indeed, when citizens leave their homes to insure the safety of their lives...
Part 4: John H. Ramsey Shooting - The sheriff's posse traced this track for some miles across wood and field with the eye [until] it was lost and could be tracked no further. A crowd of men worked all day Sunday trying to trace the track but failed except as above-stated...
Part 5: Trouble Brewing - Saturday night last [August 12, 1893] just after dark as Murray Tuggle, the fifteen-year-old son of T. H. Tuggle, went out to the lot for the purpose of watering his horse, he was fired upon by some would-be assassin who was concealed near the lot...
Part 6: Hiding Out In The Attic - William told me of Mr. Tuggle's trouble and that he was going to hide him in the attic. He said that if the officers came in search of [Mr. Tuggle], he could retire to the hiding place...
Part 7: Henry Tuggle's Dying Statement- Waggonner-Kinder grudge; Henry Tuggle makes dying statement that Tom Kinder shot him; Coroner's jury determines Tom Kinder shot and killed John Ferguson, a black man; Tom Kinder shoots at A. K. Clingman...
Part 9: Kinder Trial Begins- [Kinder] says he wanted to ask Mr. Clingman some more questions about the remarks he had heard he had made about him, notify him that he would not take any advantage of him, and then drop the matter, but he intended no violence...
NOTE: The final chapters in the White Lightning Series will be available in the book being published by The Guardian-Journal. More details in the Guardian-Journal...
There’s a time machine between Summerfield and Antioch: Palmer’s Store. If you want to go back in time and glimpse the first half of the 1900s, visit C. V. Palmer, Jr., at Palmer’s Store...
On May 6, 1979, the memorial marker at Russellville was dedicated by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, marking the first official seat of government in Claiborne Parish and the site of the first courthouse and jail...
In 1918, Herbert S. Ford's sons brought home two German helmets from the city dump. This became the catalyst that prompted Ford to begin a collection of historical artifacts which are now housed in the Herbert S. Ford Museum...
If you travel just six miles southwest of Homer on the Dutchtown Road you will find what is left of the old homeplace of John Murrell, Sr., the first permanent...
U.S. political history and cemeteries. The site includes a page for each of the more than 3,000 counties in the U.S., as well as for various U.S. and foreign territories and countries.
When William Charles Cole Claiborne was commissioned to take the office of territorial governor in 1801 he was 26 years old but had the confidence of the nation's highest officers ...
The year was 1910. The oil boom had not yet hit Claiborne Parish. The mule and plow reigned as automobiles were still in their childhood. Also in the cradle were X-ray technology, the telephone, the refrigerator, even the zipper...
Many residents in Claiborne Parish may remember walking to school with lunch pails filled with a biscuit or sweet roll, fried sausage, a sweet potato, and maybe a fried egg...
It was late evening May 3, 1979, when the Pelican Baseball Team lifted Coach Kenneth Hood over their shoulders to celebrate the first baseball State Championship ever won at Homer High...
On Friday, July 30, 1999, the Homer-Mayfield School Reunion kicked off a three-day celebration beginning with a banquet at Homer City Hall. About two hundred former teachers, students, and others gathered...
The Academy Movement, which was begun by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1755, reached Claiborne Parish in 1836 with the chartering of Claiborne Academy at Old Athens. It is not known definitely where this school was located or if it ever operated...
Homer 1st Presbyterian Church - When settlers from east of the Mississippi flooded into Claiborne Parish in the mid-1800's, they bought with them an abiding faith in a sovereign Being and their religious heritage - while some historians referred to Claiborne Parish as "the wilds of Louisiana" to these early settlers it was a Promised Land...
First Presbyterian Church Celebrates 150 Years - The Presbyterian Church in Homer will be 150 years old on Sunday, November 4, 2001. Several former ministers will participate in the morning worship service and afternoon history program. Rev. Jack Bennett, who served as minister from 1958 to 1964, will deliver the message entitled "Past to Prologue" during the morning worship service....
The First 100 Years, First Presbyterian Church - One hundred years ago the Rev. J. Franklin Ford, called "the Father of Red River Presbytery", was Stated Supply in Shreveport and served as Evangelist to the outlying territory. On November 4th, 1851, "after Divine Service" in the Homer Baptist Church he organized the "Presbyterian Church of Homer". A. J. Reynolds and Dinsmore Neely were Ruling Elders...
Among the fast growing pines of the forest in a partially obscure portion of Claiborne Parish there stands a lonely deserted Baptist meeting house. This house was built in 1871...
The history of the Lane Chapel C. M. E. Church in Homer, LA was researched by Rev. Joseph A. Johnson and Mrs. Mattie L. Washington in 1944 and Mrs Clara Walker in 1976 and 1983. The records of the early years are lost due to the inefficiency and lack of ability to keep records. The earliest date of written records available was 1905...
In the years of World War II, most people saw the male members of their families leave home to serve their county. The Catholics living in Homer had inadequate transportation to travel distances to attend Mass. This situation prompted a visit to Bishop Desmond in Alexandria for help in acquiring a church in Homer in order that Catholics in this area could attend Mass...
The frontier life of our Methodist Church in Haynesville began back in 1850, soon after the first settlement was made in what we now call the "Old Town". Land for the location of the first church was donated by J. C. Taylor, one of Haynesville's oldest and most prominent merchants, who has been called "the father of the first community of Haynesville."...
A small group of people met in a log cabin one evening in 1849 to blaze a path for what would later become The First United Methodist Church of Homer, LA. The land where the log cabin stood, where once our forbearers bowed their heads in humble prayer to begin their church, is now 416 East Main Street and has housed at one time Dorman's Blacksmith Shop, the bus station, a flower shop and at present, a meeting place for the Boy Scouts...
The history of Weldon Baptist Church is closely related to the early history of the Weldon community. The community was first known as the Alabama Camp Ground where revival meetings were held annually under an arbor. When and how the community became known as Weldon is not clear, however, it was possibly named after the Weldon family about 1850...
The Claiborne Parish Profile, including data on population, education, major employers, wages, taxes and more, is available online. Profile is courtesy of Entergy.
Frequently requested Census statistics for Claiborne Parish including Claiborne Parish population Census data, business statistics and general Claiborne Parish information.
Census 2000 and 1990 population, demographic, and housing information, 20001 population estimates, Parish Business Patterns Economic Profile and much more...
was built in the Greek Revival style of architecture and is one of only four pre-civil war courthouses still in use in Louisiana today. The building, completed in 1860, cost $12,304.36. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
