Winn Parish, Louisiana

Winn Parish, Louisiana
Winn Parish Courthouse in Winnfield
Location in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Founded	1852
Named for	Louisiana state legislator Walter Winn or Winfield Scott, general in the Mexican-American War and 1852 presidential candidate
Seat	Winnfield
Largest city	Winnfield
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	956 sq mi (2,478 km²) 950 sq mi (2,462 km²) 6 sq mi (17 km²), 0.67%
Population  - (2000)  - Density	16,894 18/sq mi (7/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Winn Parish Enterprise newspaper office in Winnfield

The Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church and Cemetery, with a green roof and large bell, is located off U.S. Highway 71 in northwestern Winn Parish south of Saline Bayou. Country churches of this kind are common in North Louisiana.

Winn Parish (French: Paroisse de Winn) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Winnfield. In 2000, its population was 16,894.

The parish has a total area of 957 square miles (2,480 km²), of which, 950 square miles (2,500 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (16 km²) of it (0.67%) is water.

Winn is separated from Natchitoches Parish along U.S. Highway 71 by Saline Bayou, the first blackwater protected waterway in the American South.

History

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.^{[citation needed]}

There was little military action in Winn Parish during the Civil War, but there was a problem with conscripts fleeing into the wooded areas to avoid military duty^{[citation needed]}. 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.^{[citation needed]}

In April 1873, white militia from Winn Parish joined in the Colfax Massacre^{[citation needed]} in neighboring Grant Parish, putting down what they called a riot by freedmen as an aftermath to the disputed gubernatorial election of 1872.

Winn Parish is the traditional home of the former Long family Democratic political dynasty. It is the birthplace of three governors of Louisiana. Governor Earl Long is buried there in a public square known as the Earl K. Long State Park in Winnfield.

Since 1956, Winn Parish has had three sheriffs named "Jordan." R. Sanford Jordan, a Democrat, served from 1956 to 1976. A second but unrelated Jordan, James Edward "Buddy" Jordan (1942-2012), was the sheriff from 1992 to 2008, when he was defeated by a 10-vote margin by a fellow Democrat, Albert D. "Bodie" Little. Subsequently, A. D. Little was forced from office in 2011 and convicted thereafter on federal drug charges. Beginning on July 1, 2012, a third Jordan will become sheriff. Cranford Jordan, Jr. (born 1952), a nephew of Sanford Jordan, won the office on his third attempt in the November 2011 general election. Cranford Jordan is an Independent.

Notable people

• Morris N. Abrams, educator
• O.K. Allen, governor of Louisiana
• Bryant W. Bailey, politician, Winn Parish sheriff from 1908 to 1912
• William Edenborn, inventor and industrialist
• T. H. Harris, Louisiana state superintendent of education
• Huey Long, governor of Louisiana
• Earl Kemp Long, governor of Louisiana
• Charlton Lyons, Republican candidate for governor in 1964, practiced law in Winnfield prior to 1930
• Henry L. Yelverton, appellate court judge.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 71
• U.S. Highway 84
• U.S. Highway 167
• Louisiana Highway 34
• Louisiana Highway 126
• Louisiana Highway 127
• Louisiana Highway 156
• Louisiana Highway 471
• Louisiana Highway 499
• Louisiana Highway 500
• Louisiana Highway 501
• Louisiana Highway 505
• Louisiana Highway 1228

National protected area

• Kisatchie National Forest (part)
• Saline Bayou

Demographics

Census	Pop.		%±
1900	9,648		—
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%
Winn Parish Census Data

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,894 people, 5,930 households, and 4,234 families residing in the parish. The population density was 18 people per square mile (7/km²). There were 7,502 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 66.27% White, 32.03% Black or African American, 0.50% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.13% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 0.87% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 35.9% were of American and 7.2% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 5,930 households out of which 32.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.80% were married couples living together, 15.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.60% were non-families. 26.20% 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 2.55 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the parish the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 22.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 110.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.20 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $25,462, and the median income for a family was $31,513. Males had a median income of $29,094 versus $17,939 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $11,794. About 17.00% of families and 21.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.40% of those under age 18 and 24.20% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Map of Winn Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

Cities and towns

Atlanta Calvin Dodson

Sikes Tullos (partial) Winnfield

Unincorporated areas

• Joyce
• Saint Maurice
• Tannehill

Education

Winn Parish School Board operates local public schools.

There is also the Huey P. Long Campus of Louisiana Technical College in Winnfield. The facility is being relocated from downtown to north of Winnfield on U.S. Highway 167. Funding for the structure was obtained by former State Senator Mike Smith of Winnfield.

Corrections

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

National Guard

A Company 199TH FSB (Forward Support Battalion) resides in Winnfield, Louisiana. This unit deployed twice to Iraq as part of the 256TH IBCT in 2004-5 and 2010.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Winn Parish, Louisiana