Webster Parish, Louisiana

Webster Parish (French: Paroisse de Webster) is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden.[1]

For other uses, see Webster County.
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Parish
Parish of Webster
Webster Parish Courthouse in Minden (dedicated May 1, 1953) was a project of the contractor George A. Caldwell.
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Country United States
State Louisiana
RegionNorth Louisiana
Founded1871
Named forDaniel Webster
Parish seat (and largest city)Minden
Area
 • Total1,590 km2 (615 sq mi)
 • Land1,540 km2 (593 sq mi)
 • Water60 km2 (22 sq mi)
 • percentage9 km2 (3.5 sq mi)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total41,207
 • Estimate 
(2018)
38,798
 • RankLA: 29th
 • Density26/km2 (67/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code318
Congressional district4th
WebsiteParish of Webster

As of the 2010 census, the Webster Parish population was 41,207.[2] In 2018, the population estimate was 38,798. Public officials who have long sought to increase the industrial potential of the parish, expressed concern over the downward spiral. Jim Bonsall, the president of the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body, cited the ending of the Haynesville Shale boom as the primary reason for the population losses. The parish has long depended on jobs in the petroleum and natural gas fields.[3]

The parish is named for 19th-century American statesman Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It was created on February 27, 1871[4] from lands formerly belonging to Bienville, Bossier, and Claiborne parishes. The parish centennial celebration was held in May 1971. Speakers included Police jury president Leland Garland Mims and Judge Enos McClendon of the Louisiana 26th Judicial District Court, who gave a biographical sketch of Daniel Webster. Many officials and parish employees dressed in period costume of the 1870s for the event.[5]

Webster Parish is part of the Shreveport-Bossier City, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Among the first settlers in Webster Parish was Newett Drew, a native of Virginia, who about 1818 established a grist mill at the former Overton community near Minden. At this time the area was Natchitoches Parish and later Overton became the Parish Seat of Claiborne Parish in 1836 until it moved in 1848. His son, Richard Maxwell Drew was born in Overton and served as a district judge and state representative prior to his death in 1850 at the age of twenty-eight. R. M. Drew's descendants held judicial or legislative positions in Webster Parish as well, Richard Cleveland Drew, Harmon Caldwell Drew, R. Harmon Drew, Sr., and Harmon Drew, Jr.[6]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 615 square miles (1,590 km2), of which 593 square miles (1,540 km2) is land and 22 square miles (57 km2) (3.5%) is water.[7]

Major highways

Adjacent counties and parishes

National protected areas

Law, government, and politics

The existing Webster Parish Court House in Minden, built at a cost of $876,000,[8] was dedicated on May 1, 1953, with Governor Robert F. Kennon, who was reared in Minden and formerly served as its mayor, as the featured speaker.[9] Planning on the courthouse began in 1950, when it was determined that the previous structure had become obsolete.[10][11]

At the time of its establishment in 1904, the previous courthouse, built at a cost of $45,000, was said to have "rivaled any other in north Louisiana for its graceful, domed architectural style and marbled hallways."[12] A modern multi-level jail was added to that courthouse in 1906 at a cost of $16,000. The new jail enabled constituents coming to the sheriff's tax office to avoid passing through the jail.[12]

When Webster Parish was carved from Claiborne Parish in 1871, the state representative was John Sidney Killen, a native of Darlington County, South Carolina, who beginning in 1849 operated a farm and cattle spread north of Minden. He was the great-grandfather of a later mayor of Minden, Floyd D. Culbertson, Jr., who served from 1940 to 1942,[13][14] and the father-in-law of Webster Parish pioneer William G. Stewart, a farmer and president of the Webster Parish School Board, for whom the former William G. Stewart Elementary School was named.[15] W. W. Carloss, who fought in the Siege of Port Hudson, was the Webster Parish state representative from 1874 to 1888, but he thereafter moved to Lafayette County in southwestern Arkansas.[16]

From 1896 to 1900, Thomas Wafer Fuller of Minden, a descendant of a prominent area family, served as the state senator freom Webster and the surrounding parishes of Bossier and Bienville. He was also a newspaper publisher, twice the owner of the former Webster Signal. From 1908 until his death in 1920, he was the second school superintendent in Webster Parish.[17] Leland G. Mims, a Minden businessman, served as a Webster Parish police juror (the parish governing body) from 1953 to 1976, president of the jury each year from 1956 to 1973, and president of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana from 1965 to 1967.[18] Mims' father-in-law, W. Matt Lowe, served on the police jury between 1940 and 1954 and was the mayor of Minden from 1916 to 1920.

From 1992 to 2012, Webster Parish was represented in the Louisiana House of Representatives by a member of the Doerge family. Democrat Everett Doerge, a retired educator and native of Minden, unseated the short-term Republican incumbent Eugene Eason and held the seat until his death in 1998. His widow, Jean M. Doerge, also a former educator, a Democrat, and a native of Natchitoches Parish, won the special election as his successor. She was reelected three times, twice without opposition but was term-limited in 2011. The Webster Parish representative effective in 2012 is Democrat Harlie Eugene Reynolds, a retired educator from Dubberly.[19]

In 1996, the Webster Parish Police Jury approved a $1,849,000 bid to the firm Finney Co. of Shreveport for construction of a new parish library facility on Est and West Street in Minden.[20]

Webster Parish is generally competitive in most contested elections. The parish voted for Republican Barry Goldwater for president in 1964 and George Wallace in 1968, when the former governor of Alabama ran on the American Independent Party ticket. Richard Nixon won here in 1972, and Jimmy Carter of Georgia prevailed in 1976. In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan won the parish by a nearly two-to-one margin over former Vice President Walter F. Mondale.[21]

In 2000, Governor George W. Bush of Texas won in Webster Parish with 9,420 votes (55.1 percent), compared to then Vice President Al Gore's 7,197 (42.1 percent). Patrick Buchanan of the Reform Party held 183 votes (1.1 percent).[22] In 2004, Bush again won the parish, having polled 11,070 votes (60 percent) to Democrat John Kerry's 6,833 (37 percent).[23]

In 2008, U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona carried Webster Parish with 11,417 votes (62.5 percent), compared to Barack Obama's 6,610 (36.2 percent).[24] Four years later in 2012, Republican Mitt Romney led in the parish with 11,400 votes (61.9 percent), 17 fewer ballots than McCain had received. In 2012, President Obama polled 6,802 votes (36.9 percent), 192 more than his 2008 tabulation.[25]

The last Democrat hence to have won in Webster Parish at the presidential level was Bill Clinton in 1996, who received 9,688 (55.3 percent), compared to Republican Robert Dole's 6,153 ballots (35.1 percent). Ross Perot, founder of the Reform Party, held 1,324 votes (7.6 percent). In that same election, the Democrat Mary Landrieu carried Webster Parish in her successful U.S. Senate race against Republican Woody Jenkins, 8,459 (51.3 percent) to 8,020 (48.7 percent).[26]

Presidential elections results
Presidential elections results[27]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2016 63.6% 11,542 34.5% 6,260 1.9% 343
2012 61.9% 11,400 36.9% 6,802 1.2% 214
2008 62.5% 11,417 36.2% 6,610 1.3% 243
2004 60.0% 11,070 37.0% 6,833 3.0% 546
2000 55.1% 9,420 42.1% 7,197 2.8% 473
1996 35.1% 6,153 55.3% 9,688 9.6% 1,676
1992 36.4% 6,640 45.9% 8,380 17.8% 3,244
1988 57.3% 10,204 41.8% 7,434 0.9% 167
1984 64.5% 12,055 34.9% 6,509 0.6% 113
1980 50.2% 8,865 48.6% 8,568 1.2% 214
1976 50.3% 7,550 48.5% 7,286 1.2% 181
1972 71.5% 8,829 23.2% 2,859 5.4% 661
1968 17.8% 2,496 20.5% 2,871 61.7% 8,646
1964 82.3% 8,177 17.7% 1,755
1960 40.9% 3,139 16.6% 1,273 42.5% 3,255
1956 48.7% 3,280 34.9% 2,352 16.4% 1,101
1952 43.1% 3,442 56.9% 4,544
1948 8.6% 455 36.5% 1,933 54.9% 2,903
1944 19.7% 899 80.3% 3,655
1940 8.1% 332 91.8% 3,777 0.1% 4
1936 9.7% 301 90.1% 2,799 0.2% 6
1932 2.4% 73 97.6% 3,020
1928 19.9% 356 80.1% 1,430
1924 5.0% 52 89.9% 929 5.0% 52
1920 10.0% 112 90.0% 1,009
1916 0.6% 6 99.2% 1,040 0.2% 2
1912 1.1% 9 84.0% 696 15.0% 124

Webster Parish sheriffs since 1871
  • Claiborne Parish sheriffs prior to 1871
  • G. W. Warren (1871-1880)
  • J. W. Reagan (1880-1888)
  • Daniel Webster Pratt (1882-1892)
  • Jefferson B. Mims (1892-1896)
  • Daniel Webster Pratt (1896-1900)
  • B. F. Griffith (1900-1908)
  • O. P. Clement (1908-1916)
  • A. H. Phillips (1916-1928)
  • Arthur Montgomery Hough (1928-1933)
  • O. H. Haynes, Sr. (1933-1952)
  • J. D. Batton (1952-1964)
  • O. H. Haynes, Jr. (1964-1980)
  • Royce L. McMahen (1980-1996)
  • Larkin T. Riser (1996-2004)
  • Gary Steven Sexton (2004- )

From 1933 to 1980, the office of Webster Parish sheriff, also the chief parish tax collector as well as the enforcer of criminal law outside the municipalities, was filled by only three men, all Democrats, from two political families. Oscar Henry Haynes, Sr., held the position from 1933 to 1952 and was a deputy sheriff for the five years prior to his becoming sheriff. His son, O. H. Haynes, Jr., a 1939 graduate of Minden High School, served from 1964 to 1980. Like his father, Haynes, Jr., had been a deputy sheriff. Haynes, Jr. then served for eight years as supervisor of the state driver's license office in Minden,[28] and he was the Exxon distributor in Webster Parish for some four decades. Haynes, Jr., was the father of Louisiana State University football star, Fred Haynes (American football). Coincidentally, Fred Haynes was the winning quarterback for his Minden High School football team which won the state championship in a home game against a team from Lafourche Parish. The game was held the night before the 1963 sheriff's primary election.[29] The Hayneses are interred at the historic Minden Cemetery.

Between the tenures of the Hayneses was their intraparty rival, J. D. Batton, who filled the post for three terms from 1952 to 1964. In the runoff election held on February 19, 1952, Batton unseated the senior Haynes by 43 votes, or 5,444 to 5,401.[30] Batton was the brother of a long-term Minden City Council member and one-term mayor, Jack Batton. In his 1956 reelection, Batton defeated a comeback bid by former Sheriff Haynes, Sr. Batton's father, J. Bryant Batton, had run unsuccessfully against the senior Haynes in a 1933 special election for sheriff. Haynes, Jr., was succeeded as sheriff in 1980 by his chief criminal deputy, Royce L. McMahen, a veterinarian from Springhill, who held the position for four terms until 1996. The current Webster Parish sheriff is Gary Steven Sexton (born April 1953), a Democrat from Shongaloo, who was elected in 2003, 2007, and 2011.

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
188010,005—
189012,46624.6%
190015,12521.3%
191019,18626.8%
192024,70728.8%
193029,45819.2%
194033,67614.3%
195035,7046.0%
196039,70111.2%
197039,9390.6%
198043,6319.2%
199041,989−3.8%
200041,831−0.4%
201041,207−1.5%
2018 (est.)38,798[31]−5.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[32]
1790-1960[33] 1900-1990[34]
1990-2000[35] 2010-2013[2]

As of the census[36] of 2010 there were 52,903 people, 20,500 households, and 12,589 families residing in the parish. The population density was 92 people per square mile (27/km2). There were 18,991 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile (12/km2). The racial makeup of the parish was 65.51% White, 32.83% Black or African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 16,501 households, of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.70% were married couples living together, 16.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the parish the population was spread out, with 25.60% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.20 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $28,408, and the median income for a family was $35,119. Males had a median income of $30,343 versus $20,907 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $15,203. About 15.30% of families and 20.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.60% of those under age 18 and 16.10% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The elected Webster Parish School Board operates local public schools.

National Guard

The 39th MP Company of the 773rd MP Battalion and the 1083rd Transportation Company of the 165th CSS (Combat Service Support) Battalion reside at Camp Minden west of Minden, formerly the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant. Both of these battalions are part of the 139TH RSG (Regional Support Group).

Communities
Map of Webster Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

Cities

Towns

Villages

Unincorporated communities
  • American statesman Daniel Webster, the namesake of Webster Parish
  • The Webster Parish Library is located in the Minden Historic District. To the right is the library annex, which was the previous library structure. The current library was constructed in 1996 under the direction of library board president Henry Grady Hobbs (1923-2012) and vice-president and former State Representative Eugene Eason. Prior to 1965, the annex had been the J.G. Ferguson home.[37]
  • Now a Louisiana Army National Guard training facility located west of Minden, this site was originally the location of the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, which opened in 1942 to manufacture munitions for use in World War II. The main building is named for the late Judge James E. Bolin.
  • The pioneer Germantown Colony and Museum is located off Louisiana Highway 531 in Webster Parish.
  • The Dorcheat Historical Association Museum at 116 Pearl Street in Minden hosts monthly lectures open to the public.
  • Wooded road leading to Upper Caney Lake at Caney Lakes Recreation Area
  • Once navigable through Lake Bistineau to Minden, Dorcheat Bayou, shown here in Dixie Inn, is a popular fishing area with scenic beauty in many places.
  • The one-room Yellow Pine Christian Church, formerly known as Union Church, located south of Sibley, Louisiana, was established in 1902 and in 1996 added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2013, the congregation initiated the construction of a second building for Sunday school rooms and a fellowship hall.[38]
  • The Evergreen Union Church, located in the Evergreen Community southwest of Shongaloo, alternates Sundays with Baptist and United Methodist services; Floyd Smith, pastor (2012).
  • Whispering Pines Missionary Baptist Church and Cemetery is located north of Dixie Inn off U.S. Highway 371 next to a stand of pine trees.
  • The Pine Grove United Methodist Cemetery north of Minden is among several rural cemeteries in Webster Parish.

See also

References
  1. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  2. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  3. Bruce Franklin (May 23, 2017). "Webster Parish's population declines for sixth year". Minden Press-Herald. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  4. Calhoun, Milburn; McGovern, Bernie (2008-04-29). Louisiana Almanac (18 ed.). Pelican Publishing. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-58980-543-9.
  5. "Webster Centennial Officially Opened," Minden Press-Herald, May 3, 1971, p. 1.
  6. "Drew Family". mindenmemories.org. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  7. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  8. "Gov. Kennon May Speak at Courthouse Ceremony", Minden Herald, February 27, 1953, p. 1
  9. Minden Herald May 1, 1953, special edition
  10. "New Parish Court House may be erected in Minden," Minden Herald, January 30, 1950, p. 1
  11. John Agan (2002). Minden: Perseverance and Pride. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing Company. pp. 132–133. ISBN 9781439630532. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  12. Marilyn Miller, Sons of Darkness Sons of Light (Many, Louisiana: Sweet Dreams Publishing Co., 2000), p. 178, ISBN 1-893693-09-0
  13. "John Sidney Killen". findagrave.com. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  14. "Louisa Parrott Killen Culbertson (1850-1947): Culbertson Funeral Services Monday". The Webster Review. February 4, 1947. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  15. John A. Agan (Webster Parish official historian). "Echoes of our Past: The Impact of the Minden Male Academy". Minden Press-Herald in Minden Memories. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  16. "William W. Carloss". familysearch.org. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  17. "Webster Parish historian John Agan, "Webster Superintendents of Schools"". mindenmemories.org. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  18. "Mims Will Not Seek Another Term", Minden Press-Herald, undated 1975 article
  19. State of Louisiana, General election returns for state legislature, November 19, 2011
  20. "Library bid approved", Minden Profess-Herald, March 12, 1996, p 1.
  21. Marilyn Miller, "Webster follows trend", Minden Press-Herald, November 7, 1984, p. 1
  22. "Webster Parish election returns, November 7, 2000". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  23. "Webster Parish election returns, November 2, 2004". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  24. "Webster Parish presidential election returns, November 4, 2008". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  25. "Webster Parish presidential election returns, November 6, 2012". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  26. "Webster Parish election returns, November 5, 1996". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  27. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  28. John A. Agan (2000). Minden. Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing Company. p. 94. ISBN 0-7385-0580-3. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  29. John A. Agan (2002). Minden: Perseverance and Pride. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing Company. ISBN 9781439630532. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  30. "Batton Elected Sheriff," Minden Herald, February 21, 1952, p. 1
  31. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  32. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  33. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  34. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  35. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  36. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  37. "New library in future for Webster Parish", Minden Press-Herald, October 18, 1993, p. 1
  38. "Yellow Pine Christiam Church breaks ground", Minden Press-Herald, July 18, 2013

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