1909 Parish History

Bossier Parish was established Feb. 24, 1843. It was settled subsequent to 1828 by immigration from the South Atlantic states and Mississippi. Prior to 1828, when Claiborne parish was created, all this territory belonged to Natchitoches, one of the original 19 parishes created by the territorial legislature in 1807. From 1828 to 1843 Bossier was a part of Claiborne. The first session of the parish jury was held June 19, 1843. The parish seat was established at Fredonia the same year, but the name of the town was changed to Society Hill and finally to Bellevue before the end of the year. In Sept., 1888, an election was held to determine the removal of the parish seat to Benton, but it was not removed for some time afterward. Judge William K. Beck opened the first term of the parish court on Sept. 25, 1843. N. C. Copes was temporary clerk, and J. B. Lowry the first sheriff. All the business of the district appears to have been transacted by the parish court, until Nov. 16, 1846, when Edward R. Olcott, judge of the 17th district. opened court. Bossier is situated in the northwestern part of the state; is bounded on the north by the State of Arkansas; on the east by Webster and Bienville parishes; on the south by Red River parish, and on the west by Caddo parish, from which it is separated by the Red river. The parish has an undulating surface of 832 square miles, and belongs to the "good upland" parishes. It may be divided into three parts, oak uplands, redlands and bottom lands. The soil is varied but good, a part being of alluvial formation. The uplands between the Red river bottoms and Lake Bistineau are known as "the Points." This tract produces in great abundance, while the Red river bottoms are the richest cotton lands in the state. The '"post-oak flats," which extend north from "the points" to the Arkansas line, are cultivated and in the southern portion there is a large tract of rolling prairie. The hills are rich, productive and well timbered. The forests are largely oak, pine, cypress, walnut, gum, beech, holly, hickory, sycamore, poplar and cottonwood. The parish is drained by Bodcau lake in the central part, and by the Red river and its many tributaries. Bossier is one of the finest cotton divisions of the south and is conspicuously a cotton parish. Besides this great staple it produces corn, hay, alfalfa, oats, sugar-cane, both varieties of potatoes and all the fruits and vegetables common to this latitude and region. From Rocky point northward there is a heavy deposit of iron ore, considerable ore is also found near Bellevue, near which there is a brown coal belt about 30 miles long, and as early as 1861 salt works were in operation at Lake Bistineau. The Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R. traverses the southern part of the parish, running east from Shreveport; the St. Louis Southwestern enters the northern boundary near Arkana, and runs south through Benton to Shreveport; the Louisiana Railway & Navigation company's line runs southeast from Shreveport along the Red river, and the Minden, East & West R. R. is building a line northeast from Shreveport. Cheap transportation is afforded by steamboats on the Red river. Besides Benton, the parish seat, the most important towns are: Alden Bridge, Allentown, Antrim, Atkins, Vanceville, Bolinger, Haughton, Bellevue, Plain Dealing and Rocky Mount.

The following statistics concerning farms, manufactures and population are taken from the U. S. census for 1900: Number of farms, 3,212; acreage, 278,524; acres under cultivation, 128,423; value of land and improvements exclusive of buildings, $2,671,490; value of farm buildings, $579,210; value of live stock, $553,824; total value of all products not fed, $1,534,390. Number of manufacturing establishments, 57; capital invested, $1,377,829; wages paid, $231,805; cost of materials used, $711,052; total value of products, $1,191,264. The population for 1900 was 5,262 whites, 18,890 colored, a total of 24,153, an increase of 3,823 over the year 1890. The estimated population for 1908 was over 27,000. The recent discovery of oil and natural gas in this section of the state has added to the importance of Bossier parish, and the census of 1910 will doubtless show a much larger percentage of increase, both in population and wealth.

Contributed 27 Aug 2020 by Norma Hass, extracted from Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, edited by Alcee Fortier, published in 1909, volume 1, pages 117-119.