Bossier Parish, Louisiana

Bossier Parish
Parish
Parish of Bossier
Renovated Bossier Parish Courthouse in Benton
Renovated Bossier Parish Courthouse in Benton
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Country United States
State Louisiana
Region North Louisiana
Founded February 24, 1843
Named for Pierre Bossier
Parish seat Benton
Largest city Bossier City
Area
 • Total 2,250 km2 (867 sq mi)
 • Land 2,200 km2 (840 sq mi)
 • Water 70 km2 (27 sq mi)
 • percentage 8 km2 (3.1 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 128,746
 • Density 57/km2 (150/sq mi)
Time zone UTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code 318
Congressional district 4th
Website bossierparishla.gov

Bossier Parish ( BOH-zhər; French: Paroisse de Bossier [paʁwas də bɔsje]) is a parish located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 128,746.

The parish seat is Benton. The principal city is Bossier City, which is located east of the Red River and across from the larger city of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The parish was formed in 1843 from the western portion of Claiborne Parish. Bossier Parish is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area, the largest metropolitan area in North Louisiana.

Lake Bistineau and Lake Bistineau State Park are included in parts of Bossier and neighboring Webster and Bienville parishes. Loggy Bayou flows south from Lake Bistineau in southern Bossier Parish, traverses western Bienville Parish, and in Red River Parish joins the Red River.

History

Arnold-Tidwell House near the Cypress Lake recreational area is one of three antebellum homes still standing in Bossier Parish.
Willis Knighton Hospital in Bossier City serves much of northern Bossier Parish.
Swimmers at Cypress Lake on a cloudy summer day

Bossier Parish is named for Pierre Bossier, an ethnic French, 19th-century Louisiana state senator and U.S. representative from Natchitoches Parish.

Bossier Parish was spared fighting on its soil during the American Civil War. In July 1861, at the start of the war, the Bossier Parish Police Jury appropriated $35,000 for the benefit of Confederate volunteers and their family members left behind, an amount then considered generous.

After the war, whites used violence and intimidation to maintain dominance over the newly emancipated freedmen. From the end of Reconstruction into the 20th century, violence increased as conservative white Democrats struggled to maintain power over the state. In this period, Bossier Parish had 26 lynchings of African Americans by whites, part of racial terrorism. This was the fifth-highest total of any parish in Louisiana, tied with the total in Iberia Parish in the South of the state. Overall, parishes in northwest Louisiana had the highest rates of lynchings.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 867 square miles (2,250 km2), of which 840 square miles (2,200 km2) is land and 27 square miles (70 km2) (3.1%) is water. Four miles east of Bossier City is Barksdale Air Force Base.

Major highways

Adjacent counties and parishes

National protected area

Communities

Cities

Towns

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. Note %±
1850 6,962 —
1860 11,348 63.0%
1870 12,675 11.7%
1880 16,042 26.6%
1890 20,330 26.7%
1900 24,153 18.8%
1910 21,738 −10.0%
1920 22,266 2.4%
1930 28,388 27.5%
1940 33,162 16.8%
1950 40,139 21.0%
1960 57,622 43.6%
1970 64,519 12.0%
1980 80,721 25.1%
1990 86,088 6.6%
2000 98,310 14.2%
2010 116,979 19.0%
2020 128,746 10.1%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010

2020 census

Bossier Parish, Louisiana – Racial and Ethnic Composition
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000 Pop 2010 Pop 2020 % 2000 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 71,101 80,991 78,982 72.93% 69.24% 61.35%
Black or African American alone (NH) 20,347 24,245 29,868 20.70% 20.73% 23.20%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 440 533 573 0.45% 0.46% 0.45%
Asian alone (NH) 1,216 1,873 2,341 1.24% 1.60% 1.82%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 79 154 113 0.08% 0.13% 0.09%
Some Other Race alone (NH) 94 128 480 0.10% 0.13% 0.37%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) 1,370 2,029 6,152 1.39% 1.73% 4.78%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3,063 7,026 10,237 3.12% 6.01% 7.95%
Total 98,310 116,979 128,746 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

At the 2020 United States census, there were 128,746 people, 49,735 households, and 33,963 families residing in the parish. According to the 2010 U.S. census, there were 116,979 people, 62,000 households, and 37,500 families residing in the parish. The population density was 142 inhabitants per square mile (55/km2). There were 49,000 housing units at an average density of 48 per square mile (19/km2).

The racial makeup of the parish in 2010 was 70.66% White, 18.52% Black or African American, 0.82% Native American, 2.18% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 1.00% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races; 8.15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino American of any race. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, the racial and ethnic makeup of the parish was 65.9% non-Hispanic white, 23.2% African American, 0.7% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 0.9% some other race, 1.7% two or more races, and 6.9% Hispanic or Latino American of any race. In 2020, its racial and ethnic makeup was 61.35% non-Hispanic white, 23.2% African American, 0.45% Native American, 1.82% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 5.15% multiracial, and 7.95% Hispanic or Latino American of any race, reflecting nationwide demographic trends of mass diversification.

Law, government and politics

Bossier Parish is governed by a 12-member elected body: the Bossier Parish Police Jury (which is equivalent to a county commission in other states). Members are elected from single-member districts. Eddy Shell, a prominent Bossier City educator, was repeatedly re-elected to the Jury from 1992 until his death in 2008.

The current members of the police jury are:

  • District 1 - Bob Brotherton
  • District 2 - Glenn Benton
  • District 3 - Philip Rogers
  • District 4 - John Ed Jordan
  • District 5 - Julianna Parks
  • District 6 - Chris Marsiglia
  • District 7 - Jimmy Cochran
  • District 8 - Douglas E. Rimmer
  • District 9 - Charles Gray
  • District 10 - Jerome Darby
  • District 11 - Tom Salzer
  • District 12 - Paul M. "Mac" Plummer

Since the late 20th century, the non-Hispanic white population of the parish has shifted from the Democratic to the Republican Party (as have most conservative whites in Louisiana and other Southern U.S. states). The state was a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party from the period after the turn of the century (when most Blacks were disenfranchised in Louisiana) to the mid-20th century.

Bossier Parish has since reliably voted for Republican candidates in most contested U.S. presidential elections. Since 1952, George Wallace, the former governor of Alabama who ran in 1968 on the American Independent Party ticket, has been the only non-Republican to carry Bossier Parish.

In 2008, U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona won in Bossier Parish with 32,713 votes (71.4 percent) over Democrat Barack H. Obama of Illinois, who received 12,703 votes (27.8 percent). In 2012, Mitt Romney polled 34,988 votes (72 percent) in Bossier Parish (2,275 more ballots than McCain drew in 2008). President Obama won 12,956 (26.6) of the votes in Bossier Parish.

In 2011, Bossier Parish elected Republican Julian C. Whittington as sheriff to succeed Larry Deen. Deen was a Democrat who registered as a Republican after retiring.

United States presidential election results for Bossier Parish, Louisiana
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 38,074 69.66% 15,662 28.66% 919 1.68%
2016 35,474 71.16% 12,641 25.36% 1,733 3.48%
2012 34,988 72.05% 12,956 26.68% 618 1.27%
2008 32,713 71.37% 12,703 27.71% 419 0.91%
2004 30,040 70.34% 12,317 28.84% 348 0.81%
2000 23,224 64.66% 11,933 33.23% 758 2.11%
1996 16,852 47.63% 15,504 43.82% 3,026 8.55%
1992 15,628 47.64% 11,313 34.49% 5,860 17.87%
1988 20,807 69.16% 9,035 30.03% 243 0.81%
1984 22,638 76.01% 7,006 23.52% 138 0.46%
1980 16,515 62.70% 9,377 35.60% 447 1.70%
1976 12,132 59.22% 8,062 39.35% 293 1.43%
1972 12,856 78.63% 2,914 17.82% 580 3.55%
1968 3,745 23.74% 2,782 17.63% 9,249 58.63%
1964 9,822 83.53% 1,937 16.47% 0 0.00%
1960 3,429 39.32% 2,198 25.21% 3,093 35.47%
1956 3,107 48.97% 1,954 30.80% 1,284 20.24%
1952 3,677 57.81% 2,683 42.19% 0 0.00%
1948 338 8.72% 1,147 29.59% 2,391 61.69%
1944 622 20.37% 2,430 79.59% 1 0.03%
1940 275 8.23% 3,045 91.17% 20 0.60%
1936 193 8.89% 1,975 91.01% 2 0.09%
1932 56 2.49% 2,191 97.51% 0 0.00%
1928 225 15.93% 1,187 84.07% 0 0.00%
1924 48 5.84% 751 91.36% 23 2.80%
1920 44 5.68% 731 94.32% 0 0.00%
1916 9 1.32% 675 98.68% 0 0.00%
1912 6 1.23% 427 87.68% 54 11.09%

National Guard

The 165th CSS (Combat Service Support) Battalion is headquartered in Bossier City. This unit was deployed to Iraq in 2008. Also located in Bossier City is the 156TH Army Band which deployed as part of the 256th Infantry Brigade in 2010 to Iraq.

Education

Bossier Parish School Board operates public schools in the parish.

It is in the service area of Bossier Parish Community College.

Notable people

  • William Benton Boggs (1854-1922), first mayor of Plain Dealing (1890) and member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1892 to 1900 for Bossier Parish and the Louisiana State Senate for Bossier and Webster parishes from 1908 to 1916
  • Dewey E. Burchett Jr., state district court judge for Bossier and Webster parishes, 1988-2008
  • Roy A. Burrell, state representative from District 2 (Caddo and Bossier parishes) since 2004
  • Harvey Locke Carey, lawyer and politician; lived off Wafer Road in Bossier Parish in the 1960s
  • Robert Houston Curry (1842-1892), state representative for Bossier Parish from 1888 to 1892; wounded Confederate Army soldier
  • Jesse C. Deen, late principal in the Rocky Mount community, served on the Bossier Parish Police Jury and then in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 1988. His older son, Larry Callaway Deen, is a former Bossier Parish sheriff.
  • E. S. Dortch, planter and politician and last surviving (1943) Bossier Parish veteran of the Confederate States Army
  • Jack Favor, a rodeo star, was falsely imprisoned in 1967 at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for the murders of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Richey.
  • Ryan Gatti, state senator for District 36 since 2016; Bossier City lawyer
  • Ray Germany, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball All-American in 1959 and 1960; resident of Haughton
  • Booker T, American professional wrestler and promoter.
  • Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; constitutional attorney in Benton
  • J. A. W. Lowry (died 1899), district attorney and state senator
  • Jerry Miculek, American professional speed and competition shooter known for his 20 world records; resides in Princeton
  • George Nattin, mayor of Bossier City, 1961-1973
  • William Washington Vance, state senator from 1886 to 1892

See also