Bossier Parish, Louisiana


Bossier Parish 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 Bossier City metropolitan area|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.
WWW Official Site

History

Bossier Parish is named for Pierre Bossier, an ethnic French, 19th-century Louisiana state senator and United States [House of Representatives|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, of which is land and is water. Four miles east of Bossier City is Barksdale Air Force Base.

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Adjacent counties and parishes

National protected area

Communities

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Unincorporated areas

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Unincorporated communities

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the parish had a population of 128,746 people, 50,092 households, and 33,963 families. The median age was 36.2 years; 25.5% of residents were under the age of 18, and 14.8% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.7 males age 18 and over.
Of the households, 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 46.6% were married-couple households, 18.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The racial makeup of the parish was 63.0% White, 23.4% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.8% from some other race, and 7.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.0% of the population.
72.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 27.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 55,237 housing units, of which 9.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 64.1% were owner-occupied and 35.9% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.3%.

2010 census

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. There were 49,000 housing units at an average density of.
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.

Law, government and politics

Bossier Parish is governed by a 12-member elected body: the Bossier Parish Police Jury. Members are elected from single-member districts.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. The state was a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party from the period after the turn of the century 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 over Democrat Barack H. Obama of Illinois, who received 12,703 votes. In 2012, Mitt Romney polled 34,988 votes in Bossier Parish. President Obama won 12,956 of the votes in Bossier Parish.

National Guard

The 165th CSS 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 areas of Bossier Parish Community College and Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College.

Notable people