Homer is a town in and the

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 five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

of Claiborne Parish in northern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. Named for the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

poet

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, the town was laid out around the Courthouse Square in 1850 by Frank Vaughn. The present-day brick courthouse, built in the

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style of architecture, is one of only four pre-

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

courthouses in Louisiana still in use. The building, completed in 1860, was accepted by the Claiborne Parish Police Jury on July 20, 1861, at a cost of $12,304.36, and is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The other courthouses are in St. Francisville, St. Martinville and Thibodaux.

History

File:Louisiana - Boyce through Kinder - NARA - 23940403 (cropped).jpg, Homer in 1935 The city was once the home of Homer College (also known as Homer Colored College), a private school for African American students active from 1855 until early 1880s and offered bachelor's degrees and masters degrees. The Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum operates across from the parish courthouse in the former Claiborne Hotel (completed 1890). The museum claims the oldest compressed bale of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

in existence in the United States. This cotton display is believed to have been baled about 1930. Adjacent to the cotton exhibit is the "Black Gold", a replica of an oilfield

roughneck A roughneck is a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig. The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been adopted by ...

—a general laborer worker who loading and unloads cargo from crane baskets and keeps the drilling equipment clean—employed in the early 1930s by the

Sinclair Oil Sinclair Oil Corporation was an American petroleum corporation founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916. The Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation amalgamated the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corporation, Sin ...

and Gas Company. The exhibit has a recording which explains how a farm family, growing mostly cotton and corn faced great economic travail in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

but relocated to Claiborne Parish to take advantage of the oil and natural gas boom. "Oil changed our lives forever. We owe a lot to the men, mud, and mules that made it happen," concludes the recorded message. In 1921, oil was discovered in Homer; in 1921, another strike followed in Haynesville in northern Claiborne Parish. The boom continued through the 1930s and brought many customers to the then booming Hotel Claiborne, which had been established in 1890 and declared a state historic site in 1984. Former Homer Mayor Alecia Smith was sentenced in 2017 after she pleaded guilty to two counts of

malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up t ...

in office. She diverted Homer municipal funds to personal use and falsified public records. Her two five-year sentences were deferred, and she was instead placed on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

. She must pay a $1,000 fine and repay more than $6,000 to the municipality. Louisiana Attorney General

Jeff Landry Jeffrey Martin Landry ( ; born December 23, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 57th governor of Louisiana since 2024. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th attorney general of Louisiana from 201 ...

said that department will "not stand for corrupt public officials. ... The people of our state deserve better and should expect more out of those who are appointed or elected to serve."

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and 0.22% is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Homer has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

The population of Homer was 2,747 in 2020. As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,747 people, 1,268 households, and 777 families residing in the town.

Government and infrastructure

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Homer Post Office. Zip Code: 71040 Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections operates the David Wade Correctional Center in an unincorporated section of Claiborne Parish near Homer.

Education

The Claiborne Parish School Board is the school district for the entire parish. It operates Homer Elementary School, Homer Junior High School, and Homer High School. The Homer area is also served by

Claiborne Academy Claiborne Academy is a private, non-profit, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school located in unincorporated Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, between Haynesville and Homer. It was founded in 1969 as a segregation academy. Their nickname is ...

, a privately funded K thru 12 school in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

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. Retrieved on October 2, 2010. "6741 Highway 19, Haynesville, LA 71038." It has been serving the Claiborne Parish area since 1970, around the time public high schools were integrated. Many prominent citizens and local civic leaders in Homer and nearby Haynesville, are graduates of Claiborne Academy.

Notable people

* James Andrews, sports physician and orthopedic surgeon * William Jasper Blackburn, mayor, U.S. Representative, and state senator *

Cheryl Ford Cheryl Ford (born June 6, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Detroit Shock, she won the WNBA championship three times. Early life and education Cheryl Ford is the daughter of Bonita Ford and former ...

WNBA Rookie of the Year Award The Women's National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 1998 WNBA season, to the top rookie of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel o ...

and WNBA championship * Milton Joseph Cunningham, attorney, state legislator and state attorney general * Bettye Davis, Alaska state representative, social worker, and nurse * Joe LeSage, Shreveport attorney, state senator and former

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

supervisor *

Paul Lowe Paul Edward Lowe (born September 27, 1936) is an American former professional football player who was a halfback in the American Football League (AFL), primarily with the Los Angeles / San Diego Chargers. A four-time All-AFL selection and two ...

, member of the

American Football League All-Time Team The American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL) ...

* James T. McCalman, state senator and Homer businessman * Danny Roy Moore, state senator, graduated from Homer High School * William M. Rainach, sergregationalist member of both houses of the state legislature *

Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist, and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades, ending in 2023. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter ...

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician, composer and singer * Larry Sale, sheriff of Claiborne Parish from 1936 to 1944, decorated soldier of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

* Gaynell Tinsley, football player at LSU and the Chicago Cardinals * David Wade,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, considered Homer as his hometown. *

Von Wafer Vakeaton Quamar "Von" Wafer (born July 21, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles. Wafer has previously played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with t ...

, professional basketball player

References

External links

{{authority control * Towns in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana Towns in Louisiana Parish seats in Louisiana