Bienville Parish, Louisiana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bienville Parish, Louisiana
|
||
---|---|---|
Parish of Bienville | ||
The new Bienville Parish Courthouse building in Arcadia is located to the north of Interstate 20.
|
||
|
||
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
|
||
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
|
||
Country | United States | |
State | Louisiana | |
Region | North Louisiana | |
Founded | March 14, 1848 | |
Named for | Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville | |
Parish seat | Arcadia | |
Largest municipality | Bienville (area) Arcadia (population) |
|
Area | ||
• Total | 2,130 km2 (822 sq mi) | |
• Land | 2,100 km2 (811 sq mi) | |
• Water | 30 km2 (11 sq mi) | |
• percentage | 3 km2 (1.3 sq mi) | |
Population
(2020)
|
||
• Total | 12,981 | |
• Density | 6.097/km2 (15.792/sq mi) | |
Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) | |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) | |
Area code | 318 | |
Congressional district | 4th |
Bienville Parish (French: Paroisse de Bienville) is a parish located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,981. The parish seat is Arcadia.
The highest natural point in Louisiana, a hill known as Mt. Driskill, 535 feet (163 m) in elevation, is located in north central Bienville Parish. The mountain is located on private land with public access by walking trail. It is named for James Christopher Driskill, a 19th-century landowner. Nearby is Jordan Mountain, with an elevation of 493 feet (150 m).
Lake Bistineau and Lake Bistineau State Park embrace parts of Bienville and neighboring Webster and Bossier parishes.
Contents
History
In the 1830s, Ruben Drake moved his family from South Carolina to what he named Mount Lebanon, the first permanent settlement in the parish. As the Drakes were devout Baptists, they established a church and school, which evolved into Mount Lebanon University, the forerunner of Louisiana College in Pineville in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana.
On March 14, 1848, the Louisiana State Legislature created Bienville Parish from the lower portion of Claiborne Parish. Bienville Parish was named in honor of the French Canadian explorer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, who was governor of French Louisiana for a total of thirty years.
The original parish seat was Sparta, a defunct community located between Bienville and Ringgold. All that remains of Sparta are two cemeteries. Among the early settlers of Sparta were the brothers Green and James Huckaby, ancestors of later U.S. Representative Jerry Huckaby of Louisiana's 5th congressional district. The courthouse was moved to Arcadia in 1893.
During the American Civil War, Bienville Parish was strongly Confederate but was spared fighting in its immediate area. Instead parish residents participated in the building of fortifications on the nearby Red River. Much of this work was done by slaves hired out by planters.
In 1864, Governor Henry Watkins Allen named Dr. Bartholomew Egan of Bienville Parish to establish a laboratory for the manufacture of medicines. Egan bought out the former Mount Lebanon Female Academy and nearly a hundred acres of land to turn out turpentine and medicinal whisky. He also produced castor oil (The Bienville Parish community of Castor, established in 1900 is named for castor oil.) and a quantity of opium. Winters explains that the "native wild white poppy produced an opium equal in strength and effectiveness to the imported product."
The notorious bandits Bonnie and Clyde were shot dead in Bienville Parish on May 23, 1934. The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland contains memorabilia about the killing. It is operated by Ted Hinton, the son of Ted Hinton, one of the officers involved in the ambush.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 822 square miles (2,130 km2), of which 811 square miles (2,100 km2) is land and 11 square miles (28 km2) (1.3%) is water. The highest natural point in Louisiana, Driskill Mountain (535 ft), is located in Bienville Parish. Driskill Mountain is 11 miles (18 km) south of Arcadia at Latitude 32 degree, 25 minutes North; Longitude 92 degree 54 minutes West.
Loggy Bayou flows south from Lake Bistineau and traverses Bienville Parish west of Ringgold before it enters Red River Parish and thereafter joins the Red River.
Major highways
Interstates
- Interstate 20
- U.S. Highway 80
- U.S. Highway 371
- Louisiana Highway 4
- Louisiana Highway 9
- Claiborne Parish (north)
- Lincoln Parish (northeast)
- Jackson Parish (east)
- Winn Parish (southeast)
- Natchitoches Parish (south)
- Red River Parish (southwest)
- Bossier Parish (west)
- Webster Parish (northwest)
Demographics
Historical population | |||
---|---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± | |
1850 | 5,539 | — | |
1860 | 11,000 | 98.6% | |
1870 | 10,636 | −3.3% | |
1880 | 10,442 | −1.8% | |
1890 | 14,108 | 35.1% | |
1900 | 17,588 | 24.7% | |
1910 | 21,776 | 23.8% | |
1920 | 20,977 | −3.7% | |
1930 | 23,789 | 13.4% | |
1940 | 23,933 | 0.6% | |
1950 | 19,105 | −20.2% | |
1960 | 16,726 | −12.5% | |
1970 | 16,024 | −4.2% | |
1980 | 16,387 | 2.3% | |
1990 | 15,979 | −2.5% | |
2000 | 15,752 | −1.4% | |
2010 | 14,353 | −8.9% | |
2020 | 12,981 | −9.6% | |
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 |
2020 census
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic) | 6,901 | 53.16% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 5,273 | 40.62% |
Native American | 61 | 0.47% |
Asian | 21 | 0.16% |
Pacific Islander | 5 | 0.04% |
Other/Mixed | 509 | 3.92% |
Hispanic or Latino | 211 | 1.63% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 12,981 people, 5,812 households, and 3,586 families residing in the parish.
Communities
Towns
- Arcadia (parish seat)
- Gibsland
- Mount Lebanon
- Ringgold
Villages
Unincorporated community
- Fryeburg (formerly Hope)
Education
The Bienville Parish School Board operates area public schools.
Notable people
- Henry Newton Brown Jr., judge of the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeals (1992-2012) and district attorney of Bossier and Webster parishes (1976-1991), was born in Bienville Parish in 1941.
- Bill DeMott, a professional wrestler, maintains a house in Bienville Parish.
- Caroline Dormon (1888–1971), a Louisiana botanist and preservationist, grew up in Bienville Parish.
- Jamie Fair, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1980 to 1984
- Charlie Hennigan, American Football League player from the 1960s
- Billy McCormack (1928-2012), Baptist pastor from Shreveport, director and vice president of the Christian Coalition of America, was born in Bienville Parish and is interred at Ringgold.
- C. L. McCrary (1905-1989), Arcadia businessman and state representative from Bienville Parish from 1960 to 1964
- Garnie W. McGinty (1900–1984), Louisiana historian
- Danny Roy Moore (1925–c. 2020), represented Claiborne and Bienville parishes in the Louisiana Senate from 1964 to 1968; resided in Arcadia
- W. C. Robinson, mathematics professor and second president of Louisiana Tech for the 1899 to 1900 academic year; Robinson Hall on campus is named in his honor; from the Mount Lebanon community.
- Lee Smith, pitcher
- Sam Smith (1922-1995), Member of the Washington House of Representatives was born in Gibsland.
- Jesse N. Stone, president of the Southern University System from 1974 to 1985; civil rights activist
- Marshall H. Twitchell, Reconstruction era state senator who helped to establish Coushatta, the seat of neighboring Red River Parish
- Rush Wimberly, former member of both houses of the Louisiana legislature, lawyer in Arcadia and Shreveport
See also
In Spanish: Parroquia de Bienville para niños