Minden is a city and

parish seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Webster Parish Webster Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Webster'') is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. As of the 2010 census, the Webster Parish population was 41,207. In 2018, the p ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States. It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 13,082.

History

Minden was established in 1836 by Charles Veeder. Native sons include

Gene Austin Lemeul Eugene Lucas (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972), better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the early " crooners". His recording of " My Blue Heaven" sold over 5 million copies and was for ...

and

Louis Dunbar Louis "Sweet Lou" Dunbar (born August 8, 1953) is the Director of Player Personnel, a basketball coach, coach, and a former 27-year veteran basketball player for the Harlem Globetrotters. High school Dunbar, who was born in Minden, Louisiana, Min ...

. The town's name is derived from the German city of Minden. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, a large

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

encampment was located inside of Minden. It housed about 15,000 Confederate soldiers. The town served as a supply depot for the Confederate Army. Close to thirty Confederate soldiers who died in the Battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill are buried in the Old Minden Cemetery. In the

Great Blizzard of 1899 The Great Blizzard of 1899, also known as the Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899 and the St. Valentine's Day Blizzard, was an exceptionally severe winter weather event that affected most of the United States, particularly east of the Rocky Mountains ...

, Minden experienced the coldest temperature ever recorded in Louisiana, when the temperature fell on February 13, 1899 to . During the Great Depression, one of the two Minden banks failed and a fire destroyed a major section of the downtown area (1931). On May 1, 1933, a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

occurred in the town, destroying 20% of the homes.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the city has a total area of 31.0

km² Square kilometre ( International spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square kilometer (American spelling), symbol km2, is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. 1 km2 is equa ...

(12.0 mi²). 30.8 km (11.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.75% water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 11,928 people, 5,189 households, and 3,126 families residing in the city.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 13,027 people in 5,166 households, including 3,430 families, in the city. The population density was 423.0/km (1,095.2/mi²). There were 5,795 housing units at an average density of 188.2/km (487.2/mi²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the city was 46.34% White, 52.17% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 5,166 households 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 22.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were non-families. 30.9% of households were one person and 15.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.05. The age distribution was 27.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 84.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.7 males. The median household income was $24,175 and the median family income was $31,477. Males had a median income of $28,401 versus $19,199 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,114. 26.6% of the population and 21.0% of families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

. 39.3% of those under the age of 18 and 20.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Notable People

L'Jarius Sneed L'Jarius Sneed (born January 21, 1997) is an American football cornerback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Louisiana Tech. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the fourth-round (138th ov ...

(born 1997), NFL cornerback for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

References

{{authority control Cities in Louisiana Cities in the Ark-La-Tex Cities in Webster Parish, Louisiana Parish seats in Louisiana Populated places established in 1836 County seats in the Ark-La-Tex 1836 establishments in Louisiana