Bossier Parish (/ˈboʊʒər/ BOH-zhər; French: Paroisse de Bossier) is a parish located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 116,979,[1] and 128,746 in 2020.[2]
Bossier Parish, Louisiana | |
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Parish | |
Parish of Bossier | |
Renovated Bossier Parish Courthouse in Benton | |
![]() Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana | |
![]() Louisiana's location within the U.S. | |
Country | ![]() |
State | ![]() |
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 | Official website |
The parish seat is Benton.[3] 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.[4][5] 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.
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.[7]
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.[8] Overall, parishes in northwest Louisiana had the highest rates of lynchings.
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.[9] Four miles east of Bossier City is Barksdale Air Force Base.
Historical population | |||
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Census | Pop. | %± | |
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[11] 1790-1960[12] 1900-1990[13] 1990-2000[14] 2010-2019[1] |
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic) | 78,982 | 61.35% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 29,868 | 23.2% |
Native American | 573 | 0.45% |
Asian | 2,341 | 1.82% |
Pacific Islander | 113 | 0.09% |
Other/Mixed | 6,632 | 5.15% |
Hispanic or Latino | 10,237 | 7.95% |
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 squaremile (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.[16] 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.[15][17]
Bossier Parish is governed by a 12-member elected body, the Bossier Parish Police Jury (equivalent to county commission in other states). Members are elected from single-member districts. Eddy Shell, a prominent Bossier City educator, was repeatedly re-elected, serving on the police jury from 1992 until his death in 2008.
The current members of the police jury are:
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. Before this, the state was a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party, in the period after the turn of the century when most blacks were disenfranchised in Louisiana.
Bossier Parish has since reliably supported 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, is the only non-Republican to have carried Bossier Parish.[19][20]
In 2008, U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona won in Bossier Parish with 32,713 votes (71.4 percent) over the Democrat Barack H. Obama of Illinois, who polled 12,703 votes (27.8 percent).[21] In 2012, Mitt Romney polled 34,988 votes (72 percent) in Bossier Parish, or 2,275 more ballots than McCain drew in 2008. President Obama trailed in Bossier Parish with 12,956 votes (26.7 percent), or 253 more votes than he had received in 2008.[22]
In 2011, Bossier Parish elected a Republican, Julian C. Whittington, as sheriff to succeed the long-term Larry Deen. He was a Democrat and later changed his registration to the Republican Party.
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
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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% |
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.
Bossier Parish School Board operates public schools in the parish.[24]
It is in the service area of Bossier Parish Community College.[25]
Places adjacent to Bossier Parish, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities of Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States | ||
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Parish seat: Benton | ||
Cities | ![]() | |
Towns | ||
CDPs | ||
Other communities |
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Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent parish or parishes | |
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