Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a small city in the northwestern portion of Louisiana and the seat of government of Webster Parish. Its 2010 population was 13,082. The city is located some twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport.
Minden was founded in 1836 by Charles H. Veeder, a native of Schenectady, New York, who named it for the city of Minden in Germany. Webster Parish, established in 1871 as a breakaway from Claiborne Parish, is named for U.S. Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.
For nearly forty years prior to 1871, Minden was the site of a communal colony known as "Germantown". The colony was headed by a woman known as Countess Leon. A museum commemorating this experience operates northeast of the city.
Early in 2018, Minden was ranked the second safest municipality in Louisiana, trailing only Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish in suburban New Orleans. Police Chief Steve Cropper noted that Minden had a safety rating of 79.43 from the website safehome.org. Mandeville had 81.46. Far behind at 31.06 is Alexandria in Rapides Parish. Cropper said that Minden is "really fortunate to be as calm and as safe as it is, considering the fact that we live within thirty miles of a couple of bigger cities that have a lot of issues."[1]
Minden was the early residence of a former mayor and former Governor Robert F. Kennon, a Democrat who served from 1952 to 1956 and lost a comeback bid in 1963 to John J. McKeithen. Prior to his governorship, Kennon was a district and circuit court judge.
Republican former U.S. Representative John Fleming of Louisiana's 4th Congressional District is a Minden former physician and businessman who joined the Donald Trump national administration in 2017. He was born in Mississippi. The state senator from Bossier and Webster parishes is Moderate Republican Ryan Gatti of Bossier City. The state representative for Webster Parish is Democrat Gene Reynolds, a retired educator from Dubberly, a village south of Minden.
The Caney Lakes Recreation Area is located north of Minden. The city is the home of Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary and a branch of Louisiana Technical College, formerly know as the Northwest Louisiana School of Vocational Education.
Notable people
- Wallace Holly Adams, Minden native who in 1912 helped to select the site of Jennings as the seat of government for Jefferson Davis Parish; attorney and businessman
- Thad Andress, business, civic, and religious figure in his native Minden
- T. W. Barnes, Pentecostal clergyman
- Jack Batton, businessman and Minden city council member, 1946-1962; 1966-1978; mayor from 1978 to 1982
- Henry L. Bridges, mayor from 1928 to 1932 and 1934 to 1936
- Ronnie Broughton, Webster Parish School Board member; state chairman of the Constitution Party
- John Calhoun Brown, businessman and interim mayor from 1942 to 1944
- Paul A. Brown, mayor from 1989-1990, when he was seriously injured in an accident on the Minden High School football field
- Noel Byars, educator and mayor from 1983 to 1989, when he was recalled from office
- L. L. Clover, clergyman
- Floyd D. Culbertson, Jr., mayor from 1940 to 1942, when he resigned to enter military service
- Allen Ross Culpepper, Vietnam War hero
- John Fleming, former U.S. representative and coroner; serves in the Department of Health and Human Servioces in the Trump administration
- Alexander Banks George, state senator, mayor of Minden, circuit court judge in mid-19th century
- Connell Fort, mayor from 1922 to 1926 and 1932 to 1934
- Terry Gardner, incoming 2019 mayor of Minden; founder of The Gardner Group
- Ray Germany, basketball player and coach
- O. H. Haynes, Sr., sheriff
- Cleone Hodges college professor in North Carolina; daughter of Sheriff Haynes
- Bill Ichter, clergyman
- Edward Kennon, Shreveport real estate developer born in Minden in 1938; former member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
- Jenny Moreland Kennon, Shreveport real estate developer born in Minden in 1939
- Robert F. Kennon, governor from 1952 to 1956
- A. M. Leary, mayor from 1903 to 1905
- Cecil C. Lowe, former district court judge
- W. Matt Lowe, mayor from 1916 to 1920
- Joshua Barrett Madden, Iraq War hero
- Charles Maple, journalist and chamber of commerce official
- Schuyler Marvin, district attorney
- Leland Mims, police jury president
- Frank T. Norman, businessman, artist, and mayor from 1958 to 1966
- J. E. "Pat" Patterson, businessman and mayor from 1975 to 1978
- A. T. Powers, clergyman
- Gene Reynolds, state representative since 2008
- Jimmy G. Tharpe, clergyman
- David William Thomas, mayor from 1936 to 1940
- Robert T. Tobin, educator and first African-American interim mayor, with service through most of 1989
- Lynn Kyle Watkins, judge
- Clarence D. Wiley, Webster Parish clerk of court from 1956 to 1976
References
- ↑ Caleb Daniel (January 4, 2018). Report: Minden state’s 2nd safest. Minden Press-Herald. Retrieved on February 16, 2018.
