Minden

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

City of Minden
City
The combined Minden City Hall and Convention Center opened in 1970.
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Webster
Elevation	253 ft (77.1 m)
Coordinates	32°37′0″N 93°17′0″W / 32.616667°N 93.283333°W / 32.616667; -93.283333
Area	12.0 sq mi (31.1 km2)
- land	11.9 sq mi (31 km2)
- water	0.1 sq mi (0 km2), 0.83%
Population	13,027 (2000)
Density	1,095.2 /sq mi (422.9 /km2)
Established	1836
Mayor	Bill Robertson
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	71055
Area code	318
Location of Minden in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States
Website: http://www.mindenusa.com

Minden is a city in and the parish seat of Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States.^[1] It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census. It has possessed a post office since 1839.^[2]

Minden is the principal city of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Shreveport-Bossier City-Minden Combined Statistical Area.

Downtown Minden with the signature water tower in the background

The city is served by the newspaper, the Minden Press-Herald, which officially dates only to July 18, 1966, as a daily publication. It was previously two weekly papers, the Minden Press and the Minden Herald. A newspaper has existed in the community since the 1850s. The newspaper office is located on Gleason Street south of Broadway Street in a building once occupied by a supermarket.

Geography

Minden has an elevation of 253 feet (77.1 m)^[3]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.0 square miles (31 km²), of which, 11.9 square miles (31 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (0.75%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 13,027 people, 5,166 households, and 3,430 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,095.2 people per square mile (423.0/km²). There were 5,795 housing units at an average density of 487.2/sq mi (188.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 46.34% White, 52.17% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.61% of the population.

There were 5,166 households, out of which 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 all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city of Minden, the population was spread out with 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% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years, higher than the state median age of 34.0 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 income for a household in the city was $24,175, and the median income for a family 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. About 21.0% of families and 26.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.3% of those under age 18 and 20.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

Among the first settlers in the Minden area was Newitt Drew, a Welshman originally from Virginia (U.S. state), who built a gristmill and sawmill on Dorcheat Bayou in south Webster Parish in what became the since defunct Overton community. Minden itself was established in 1836 by Charles H. Veeder, a native of Schenectady, New York, who named it for the city of Minden in Germany.^[5] Veeder left Minden during the California Gold Rush and spent the rest of his life practicing law in Bakersfield, California.^[6]

A year before Veeder arrived, a group from Phillipsburg (now Monaca, Pennsylvania), led by the "Countess von Leon", settled seven miles northeast of Minden in what was then Claiborne Parish. For nearly four decades, this Germantown Colony operated on a communal basis.^[7] It was dispersed in 1871, when Webster Parish was severed from Claiborne Parish.^[8] The "Countess" moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she died in 1881.^[7]

One of three Utopian Society settlements in this area, the Germantown Colony was the most successful and lasted the longest, having peaked at fifty to sixty pioneers but usually with fewer than forty followers. The settlement had been planned by the countess’ husband, Bernhard Müller, known as the Count von Leon. He died of yellow fever on August 29, 1834, at Grand Ecore, four miles from Natchitoches, before he reached Webster Parish.^[9] Leon and his followers attempted to build an earthly utopia, socialist in practice, while awaiting for the Second Coming of Christ. For his religious views, Leon had been exiled from Germany. He intended to plant the settlement in Webster Parish to coincide with the latitude of Jerusalem, 31 degrees, 47 minutes. The colonists worshiped under oak trees at the center of the colony. They supported themselves from farming, with a concentration on cotton.^[7] The settlement is preserved at the Germantown Colony and Museum. A second museum in Minden, the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, named for Dorcheat Bayou, is located downtown at 116 Pearl Street. It preserves the cultural history of the city and parish from the 19th century.

The Minden Coca-Cola Bottling Plant is a distribution center on Pine Street across from Minden Cemetery.

Statue of a Confederate soldier at the western end of Jacqueline Park in Minden

During the American Civil War, a large Confederate encampment, which housed some fifteen thousand soldiers was located east of Minden. Minden was a supply depot for the troops. Some thirty Confederate soldiers who died in the Battle of Mansfield and another engagement at Pleasant Hill are buried in the historic Minden Cemetery located off Pine Street. A modern cemetery, Gardens of Memory, opened in 1957 off the Lewisville Road north of town.

On February 13, 1890, Minden recorded the state's all-time coldest temperature, minus-16 degrees during the height of the Great Blizzard. The humid subtropical climate, however, is usually mild in winter and mostly hot in summer.

During the Great Depression, one of the two Minden banks failed, and a fire destroyed a major section of the downtown in 1931. Five banks now exist, Minden Building and Loan, Capital One, Regions, Citizens, and Richland State. On May 1, 1933, a tornado destroyed some 20 percent of the residences in Minden.

The Hunter family for decades operated the Coca-Cola Bottling Company outlet in Minden. While soft drinks were produced at the facility into the 1960s, the facility is now a distribution center. It is located across from Minden Cemetery.

Artist Ben Earl Looney was born in the Yellow Pine community in south Webster Parish and graduated from Minden High School in 1923. He taught art throughout the United States in a career from the 1920s until his death in Lafayette in 1981.

Minden businesses

Minden has a large number of businesses and an active Chamber of Commerce, which maintains offices near the intersection of Broadway and the Sibley Road. Two former executive directors of the chamber were elected mayor, Tom Colten in 1966 and Paul A. Brown in 1989.

The Webster Parish Courthouse, completed in the late 1950s, is located a few years west of its former location, which became a parking lot for the new Minden City Hall/Civic Center in the early 1970s.

Education

Northwest Louisiana Technical College has been located since the 1950s in a residential section off Constable Street in Minden.

Renovated Minden High School (2007) on College Street

Minden is served by the Webster Parish School Board, an elected body which maintains administrative offices on Sheppard Street. Minden High School, located at the intersection of Sullivan and College streets, completed major renvoation in 2007. The original school dates to the turn of the 20th century.

There is a vocational technical school in Minden, Northwest Louisiana Technical College, located on Constable Street near the sites of the Webster Parish fairgrounds and Griffith Stadium, a baseball field, where the former Minden Redbirds semi-professional team played.

Elementary schools include E.S. Richardson, William G. Stewart, J.L. Jones, and J.E. Harper schools.

The middle school is located at the site of the former historically black Webster High School, which closed in 1975, with desegregation into Minden High School. The previous junior high school, Theresa M. Lowe Junior High School located near the technical college, was closed after desegregation and converted into an alternative school. Theresa Lowe graduated from Rayville High School in Rayville, the seat of Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana and received her Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. She was a long-time teacher of the seventh grade at the former Minden Junior High School and a leader in the renamed Louisiana Association of Educators.^[10]

There is also the private Glenbrook School off the Lewisville Road toward Shongaloo, which began within the First Baptist Church in 1970.

The Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary, which offers bachelor's, master's, and doctor of theology degrees, is located off the Homer Road in Minden. The theologically conservative institution was opened in 1952 by the pastor L.L. Clover (1902-1975) of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church.

Notable residents

Politics

• William Jasper Blackburn (1820-1899), mayor of Minden, 1855-1856; newspaper publisher; later U.S. Representative (1868-1869), Republican.^[11]
• Bruce M. Bolin (born 1950), state representative from Webster Parish, 1978-1990); state district court judge, since 1991, Democrat^[12]
• James E. Bolin (1914-2002), state representative, 1940-1944; state district court judge, 1952-1960; Louisiana appeal court judge, 1960-1978, Democrat.^[13]
• Jesse L. Boucher (1912-2004), real estate developer and former mayor of Springhill, taught at Minden High School in the latter 1930s.^[14]
• Parey Branton (born 1918) represented Webster Parish in the Louisiana House from 1960-1972, Democrat.^[15]
• J. Frank Colbert (1882-1949), mayor (1944-1946), state representative (1920-1925), and member of the Webster Parish Police Jury (1912-1920).^[16]
• Tom Colten (1922-2004) served from as the first Republican mayor, 1966-1974. He later headed the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development under three governors of both parties.^[17]
• Floyd D. Culbertson, Jr. (born ca. 1910), mayor from 1940-1942^[18]
• John T. David (1897-1974) was mayor of Minden from 1946-1955, when he resigned after two misdemeanor convictions for bootlegging. He was thereafter elected to three terms on the Webster Parish Police Jury, Democrat.^[19]
• Everett Doerge was a former educator and former Louisiana House member, 1991-1998. He was succeeded by his widow, Jean M. Doerge, also a former educator, a Democrat, and a native of Natchitoches Parish. She has since been reelected twice without opposition. Everett Doerge won the post in the 1991 general election by defeating the Republican Eugene S. Eason of Springhill.^[20]
• Harmon Drew, Jr., Court of Appeals Judge (born 1946), Democrat.^[21]
• R. Harmon Drew, Sr. (1917-1995), former municipal judge and a Democratic state representative^[22]

Fred T. "Tony" Elzen as grand marshal of the Minden Christmas parade, 2007; an annual golf tournament named for Elzen is held each summer in Minden.

• John C. Fleming, physician, author; incoming member of the United States House of Representatives, Republican^[23]
• E.D. Gleason, member of the Louisiana House from Webster Parish from 1952 until his death in 1959, Democrat^[24]
• Mary Smith Gleason, succeeded her husband as a member of the Louisiana House, 1959-1960, Democrat^[25]
• Jasper Goodwill, mayor of Minden, 1955-1958; started employee health insurance and pension plans, Democrat^[26]
• Thomas Jerald "Jerry" Huckaby, a 1959 Minden High School graduate, served in Congress from 1977-1993. He represented the Fifth Congressional District, which did not include either Minden or Webster Parish, Democrat.^[27]
• Herman "Wimpy" Jones, State senator from 1956-1960, Democrat; founder of restaurant that became the Southern Kitchen in Minden.^[28]
• Edward Kennon, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner, 1973-1984, Democrat^[29]
• Robert F. Kennon, was the youngest mayor ever in the state of Louisiana. Served as mayor of Minden from 1926 to 1928, being 23 at election. Democratic Governor of Louisiana, 1952-1956^[30]
• Coleman Lindsey, Democratic lieutenant governor of Louisiana, 1939-1940; state senator from Bossier and Webster parishes, 1924-1928 and 1932-1940; judge in East Baton Rouge Parish, 1950-1968^[31]
• W. Matt Lowe, mayor of Minden from 1916-1920; Webster parish police juror from 1940-1954^[32]
• Leland G. Mims, Webster Parish police juror from 1953-1976; jury president, 1956-1973, and president of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, 1965-1967^[33]
• John Willard "Jack" Montgomery, Sr., Minden attorney and state senator from 1968-1972, Democrat.^[34]
• Frank T. Norman, mayor of Minden from 1958-1966; worked to establish the municipal power plant, Democrat^[35]
• E.S. Richardson (1875-1950), Webster Parish school superintendent and president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Democrat^[36]
• Billy Henry "Bill" Robertson (born 1938), current mayor, elected in 1990, Democrat^[37]
• John N. Sandlin, succeeded John Watkins in Congress, 1921-1937; ran unsuccessfully in 1936 for the U.S. Senate against fellow Democrat Allen J. Ellender^[38]
• Robert T. Tobin (1911-2007), a retired educator, served on an interim basis as mayor of Minden in 1989, the first and thus far only African American to have held the position, Democrat.^[39]
• John T. Watkins, served in the United States House of Representatives, Democrat.^[40]

Sports

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

Griffith Memorial Stadium in Minden is home for baseball games.

The Minden Recreation Center off Interstate 20

• Billy Joe Booth (1940-1972), after playing for Minden High School and Louisiana State University, joined the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League, having played from 1962-1970. He died in an airplane crash in Canada. He resided in Harvey, Louisiana.^[41]
• Larry C. Brewer (1948-2003), a 1966 graduate of Minden High School, played successfully for Louisiana Tech University in Ruston and joined the Atlanta Falcons after college graduation but was unable to meet the commitment because of an injury. Brewer became a certified public accountant and worked in hospital management until his death of a drowning accident while on a family vacation in Hawaii. He resided in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, near Tulsa.^[42]
• George Doherty (1920-1987) was a former professional football player (right tackle) who coached Minden High School to two state championships in 1954 and 1956 and then coached at Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State University.^[43]
• Louis Dunbar is a former center for the Harlem Globetrotters.
• Fred Haynes (1946-2006), a 1964 Minden High School graduate, became a champion college quarterback at LSU, where he was affectionately known as the "Littlest Tiger" because of his modest physical size.
• Charles T. "Charlie" Hennigan (born 1935), originally from Bienville Parish, graduated from Minden High School in 1953 and played for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches before joining the newly-created Houston Oilers in 1960.
• David Allen Lee (born 1943) is a retired industrial executive in Bossier City in Bossier Parish who holds National Football League punting records during his tenure with the former Baltimore Colts from 1966-1978. Prior to his professional duties, Lee played for Louisiana Tech.
• Jackie Moreland (1938-1971) was the first All-American basketball player for Minden High School. He thereafter played for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, the Detroit Pistons, and the former New Orleans Buccaneers. He died of cancer at thirty-three.
• Sammy Joe Odom (1941-2001) was an MHS and Northwestern State football star who played in the 1964 season for the Houston Oilers. He was later the administrator for the De Soto Parish Police Jury in Mansfield.
• Chase Pittman is defensive end for the Cleveland Browns.
• Raymond Tate Minden's only High School Parade All-American in 1981. Led MHS to state championship in 1980. Played for the University of Houston where he was AP All-Southwest Conference at running back in 1984 and 1985. Had 71 yards on 10 carries in the 1984 Cotton Bowl.
• Jimmy Upton (1949-2003) excelled in track and field at Minden High School and thereafter at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and was admitted to three halls of fame.
• Stephret Williams, Jr. is a former NFL wide receiver who played for the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals.

Others

• Gene Austin was a singer, sometimes called "the first crooner".
• James Burton, a popular guitarist who once performed with Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley, was born in Minden in 1939 and lived there until he was ten years of age.
• Barbara Colley (born 1947) is a romance and mystery novelist in New Orleans who grew up in Minden.

Memorial on Summit Street in Minden to United States Army soldier Joshua Madden, the first soldier from Minden killed in the Iraq War

• John Jones, an honorably discharged African American former United States Army corporal was jailed in August 1946 under dubious pretenses of loitering. He was released and lynched by a civilian posse, having reportedly refused to give a war souvenir to a white person.^[44]
• Percy Mayfield was a noted blues singer.
• E.S. Richardson (1875-1950) was Minden's most recognized educator and the namesake of E.S. Richardson Elementary School.
• Ada Jack Carver Snell (1890-1972) was a short story write who specialized in the literature of the Cane River of Natchitoches Parish.
• David Snell (1921-1987) was a journalist and cartoonist for the defunct Life Magazine.
• Tam Spiva (born 1932) is a television script writer (ABC's The Brady Bunch and CBS's Gentle Ben).
• Latha Tomlinson (born 1983) television writer for the show Ghost Hunters.
• Jimmy G. Tharpe (1930-2008) was an Independent Baptist clergyman originally from Sibley who founded Louisiana Baptist University in Shreveport.
• Stanley R. Tiner (born 1942), the executive editor of The Sun Herald in Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi, started his journalism career at the Minden Press-Herald in 1969-1970. The Sun Herald won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for its Hurricane Katrina coverage.

Hank Williams married in Minden

Country singer Hank Williams, Sr., married Billie Jean Jones Eshliman in Minden on October 18, 1952. The next day, the couple repeated the vows in two separate public ceremonies. Less than three months later, Williams was dead. A judge ruled that the wedding was not legal because Billie Jean's divorce did not become final until eleven days after she had married Williams. Thereafter, Billie Jean married another singing giant, Johnny Horton. Horton died in 1960 and is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Haughton in Bossier Parish.^[45]

Minden gallery

First Baptist Church of Minden was once pastored by George Washington Baines, maternal great-grandfather of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.	First United Methodist Church across from the water tower in downtown Minden	Established as a mission in 1955, Eastside Missionary Baptist Church (pastor Richard Methvin), located at Park Highway and Germantown Road, completed major renovation in 2008.	Calvary Missionary Baptist Church (pastor James A. Crain) is located at 1400 Homer Road.
The Minden Presbyterian Church is located within walking distance from Baptist, Episcopalian, and United Methodist congregations.	St. John's Episcopal Church in the Minden Historic District	St. Paul Catholic Church at 410 Fincher Road in Minden	An African American congregation, Good Samaritan, is located on the Shreveport Road at the former site of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, since relocated to the eastern end of the Homer Road.
Saint Rest Baptist Church, another African-American congregation in Minden	Main Street in Minden facing west	The main Webster Parish Library operates on East and West Street in Minden, with branch libraries located throughout the parish.	A barber shop has operated for decades at this Main Street location in Minden.
Academy Park in the Minden Historic District is located on the site of the former Minden Male Academy.	Dorcheat Historical Association Museum is located downtown at 116 Pearl Street.	Citizens Bank operates in downtown Minden next to Clyde Stanley's Karate School.	Regions Bank in Minden occupies the site of the former Minden Bank and Trust Company across from the Webster Parish Courthouse.
Minden Building and Loan (MBL) Bank on Main Street	Richland State Bank, based in Rayville, operates in Minden.	Skipper's Soda Fountain, which opened downtown in Minden in 2008, has historic pictures on its walls.	Western Auto dealership in Minden operated by John P. Collins
The Holland Crawford Insurance agency clock has long been a mainstay of downtown Minden. The company was founded by Castle O. Holland and his son-in-law, Wayne S. Crawford.	Minden Medical Center ranks among the "Top 100" Hospitals in the nation.	Neta's Bar-B-Q on the Shreveport Road has existed since the 1950s.	Minden honors veterans in an impressive display on Turner's Pond near E.S. Richardson Elementary School.
This historic downtown bell given to the City of Minden by the Powell family of Blazer Construction Company hang from the former Webster Parish Courthouse from 1905-1951.	Historic Dorcheat Bayou between Minden and Dixie Inn is a popular fishing area.	Historic Minden Cemetery has graves from the American Civil War era.	Gardens of Memory Cemetery

References

External links

• City of Minden, official website
• Minden-South Webster Chamber of Commerce
• Minden Press-Herald (local newspaper)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Webster Parish, Louisiana Parish seat: Minden Cities Minden | Springhill Towns Cotton Valley | Cullen | Sarepta | Sibley Villages Dixie Inn | Doyline | Dubberly | Heflin | Shongaloo