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Winn Parish, Louisiana
Parish
Parish of Winn
Winn Parish Courthouse in Winnfield
Winn Parish Courthouse in Winnfield
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location within the US
Louisiana's location within the US
Country  United States
State  Louisiana
Region North Louisiana
Founded February 24, 1852; 172 years ago (1852-02-24)
Named for Walter Winn or Winfield Scott
Parish seat (and largest city) Winnfield
Incorporated municipalities
6 (total)
1 city, 1 town, and 4 villages
(located entirely or partially
within parish boundaries)
Area
 • Total 2,480 km2 (957 sq mi)
 • Land 2,500 km2 (950 sq mi)
 • Water 17 km2 (6.7 sq mi)
 • percentage 2 km2 (0.7 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 13,755
 • Density 5.5495/km2 (14.373/sq mi)
Time zone UTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code 318
Congressional district 5th

Winn Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,755. The parish seat and largest city is Winnfield. The parish was founded in 1852. It is last in alphabetical order of Louisiana's sixty-four parishes. Winn is separated from Natchitoches Parish along U.S. Highway 71 by Saline Bayou, the first blackwater protected waterway in the American South.

History

Saline Bayou (Winn-Natchitoches Parish, LA) IMG 7496 1
Saline Bayou
2015 backwater flooding in Winn Parish, LA MG 7194
Backwater flooding in Winn Parish led temporarily in June 2015 to a detour around U.S. Highway 71 at St. Maurice, Louisiana.

Winn Parish was established in 1852 from lands which had belonged to the parishes of Catahoula, Natchitoches, and Rapides.

During the Civil War, David Pierson, a young attorney, was elected to represent the parish at the Secession Convention called in January 1861 in Baton Rouge by Governor Thomas Overton Moore. Pierson voted against secession and refused, along with several others, to change his "no" vote at the end of the process when asked to do so to make the final tally unanimous.

That these conscripts refused to fight for the Confederacy is understandable considering that Union support was higher in north Louisiana, and especially high in Winn Parish. The Confederate States Army defeated a Union detachment sent to destroy a salt works in the parish. Winn Parish contributed to the $80,000 raised to build fortifications on the nearby Red River.

After the war, bandits roamed the Natchez Trace or Harrisonburg Road that ran through the lower part of the parish. Among the worst were the West and Kimbrell clan. For seven years they preyed especially on travelers and migrants passing through the area.

In April 1873, white Democrats forming a militia from Winn Parish joined with ex-Confederate veterans from Rapides and Grant parishes against Republican blacks in the Colfax massacre in neighboring Grant Parish. They attacked freedmen defending the parish courthouse and two Republican officeholders in the aftermath to the disputed gubernatorial election of 1872. Among the 80–150 blacks killed were at least 50 who had surrendered; a total of three white men were killed in the confrontation.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 957 square miles (2,480 km2), of which 950 square miles (2,500 km2) is land and 6.7 square miles (17 km2) (0.7%) is water.

Major highways

  • US 71.svg U.S. Highway 71
  • US 84.svg U.S. Highway 84
  • US 167.svg U.S. Highway 167
  • Louisiana 34 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 34
  • Louisiana 126 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 126
  • Louisiana 127 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 127
  • Louisiana 156 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 156
  • Louisiana 471 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 471
  • Louisiana 499 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 499
  • Louisiana 500 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 500
  • Louisiana 501 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 501
  • Louisiana 505 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 505
  • Louisiana 1228 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 1228

Adjacent parishes

National protected area

  • Kisatchie National Forest (part)
  • Saline Bayou

Communities

City

  • Winnfield (parish seat and largest municipality)

Town

Villages

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated places

Other communities

  • Packton
  • Tannehill
  • Wheeling

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1860 6,876 —
1870 4,954 −28.0%
1880 5,846 18.0%
1890 7,082 21.1%
1900 9,648 36.2%
1910 18,357 90.3%
1920 16,119 −12.2%
1930 14,766 −8.4%
1940 16,923 14.6%
1950 16,119 −4.8%
1960 16,034 −0.5%
1970 16,369 2.1%
1980 17,253 5.4%
1990 16,269 −5.7%
2000 16,894 3.8%
2010 15,313 −9.4%
2020 13,755 −10.2%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790–1960 1900–1990
1990–2000 2010
Winn Parish racial composition as of 2020
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 8,498 61.78%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 3,518 25.58%
Native American 77 0.56%
Asian 172 1.25%
Pacific Islander 16 0.12%
Other/Mixed 451 3.28%
Hispanic or Latino 1,023 7.44%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 13,755 people, 5,483 households, and 3,661 families residing in the parish.

Education

Winn Parish School Board operates local public schools in all of the county.

Corrections

Winn Correctional Center is in an unincorporated section of Winn Parish. Corrections Corporation of America, under contract with Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, once operated the prison.

National Guard

"A" Company of the Louisiana National Guard 199th Forward Support Battalion was previously located in Winnfield, Louisiana. The unit deployed twice to Iraq as part of the 256TH IBCT in 2004-5 and 2010. The unit's Winnfield Armory was closed.

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Parroquia de Winn para niños

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