Minden, Louisiana

Minden is a small city and the parish seat of Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 11,928. The Main Street district of Minden is recognized as a Louisiana Main Street Community, a Louisiana Cultural Products District, and is sited on the National Register of Historic Places. Minden is the core and principal city of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of all of Webster Parish, which is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City–Minden CSA.

Aerial view of Minden, 1935

Minden
City
City of Minden
Minden City Hall and Convention Center
Location of Minden in Webster Parish, Louisiana.
Minden
Coordinates: 32°37′0″N 93°16′00″W[1]
Country	United States
States	Louisiana
Parish	Webster
Founded	1836
Named after	Minden, Germany
Area [2]
• Total	15.21 sq mi (39.39 km2)
• Land	15.04 sq mi (38.95 km2)
• Water	0.17 sq mi (0.44 km2)
Elevation	269 ft (82 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	11,928
• Density	793.24/sq mi (306.27/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	71055
Area code(s)	318
FIPS code	22-50885
GNIS feature ID	2404271[1]
Website	City of Minden

History

Minden was established in 1836 by Charles Veeder.

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

The city of Minden was used as a blueprint for the fictional city of Bon Temps, the setting of the Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris.

During the Civil War, a large Confederate 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, Minden experienced the coldest temperature ever recorded in Louisiana, when the temperature fell on February 13, 1899, to −16 °F or −26.7 °C.^[3]

During the Great Depression, one of the two Minden banks failed and a fire destroyed a major section of the downtown area (1931).

• 
  Aftermath of the 1933 tornado
• 
  Aftermath of the 1933 tornado

On May 1, 1933, a tornado occurred in the town, destroying 20% of the homes.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.0 km² (12.0 mi²). 30.8 km² (11.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.75% water.^[4]

Climate

Minden holds the records for both the highest and lowest temperature recorded in Louisiana in February, which is also the coldest temperature recorded in Louisiana in general. On February 13, 1899, the temperature dropped to -16 °F (-26.7 °C).

Climate data for Minden, Louisiana (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–2021)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	85 (29)	92 (33)	92 (33)	95 (35)	99 (37)	106 (41)	111 (44)	112 (44)	110 (43)	100 (38)	94 (34)	88 (31)	112 (44)
Mean maximum °F (°C)	75.2 (24.0)	78.3 (25.7)	83.4 (28.6)	87.0 (30.6)	91.2 (32.9)	95.5 (35.3)	99.4 (37.4)	100.4 (38.0)	96.5 (35.8)	90.4 (32.4)	82.0 (27.8)	76.8 (24.9)	101.5 (38.6)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	57.9 (14.4)	61.9 (16.6)	69.9 (21.1)	77.4 (25.2)	84.3 (29.1)	90.9 (32.7)	94.2 (34.6)	94.7 (34.8)	89.3 (31.8)	79.2 (26.2)	68.1 (20.1)	59.8 (15.4)	77.3 (25.2)
Daily mean °F (°C)	46.0 (7.8)	49.5 (9.7)	57.1 (13.9)	64.5 (18.1)	73.0 (22.8)	80.3 (26.8)	83.5 (28.6)	83.3 (28.5)	77.3 (25.2)	66.0 (18.9)	55.4 (13.0)	48.1 (8.9)	65.3 (18.5)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	34.2 (1.2)	37.2 (2.9)	44.3 (6.8)	51.5 (10.8)	61.7 (16.5)	69.7 (20.9)	72.9 (22.7)	71.9 (22.2)	65.4 (18.6)	52.9 (11.6)	42.7 (5.9)	36.3 (2.4)	53.4 (11.9)
Mean minimum °F (°C)	19.5 (−6.9)	24.4 (−4.2)	28.0 (−2.2)	36.8 (2.7)	47.4 (8.6)	60.8 (16.0)	66.8 (19.3)	64.7 (18.2)	52.7 (11.5)	37.1 (2.8)	27.8 (−2.3)	22.8 (−5.1)	17.9 (−7.8)
Record low °F (°C)	0 (−18)	−16 (−27)	14 (−10)	25 (−4)	34 (1)	48 (9)	50 (10)	52 (11)	37 (3)	22 (−6)	12 (−11)	2 (−17)	−16 (−27)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	5.27 (134)	5.01 (127)	5.66 (144)	6.45 (164)	4.89 (124)	4.93 (125)	3.68 (93)	3.24 (82)	3.69 (94)	4.68 (119)	4.36 (111)	5.73 (146)	57.59 (1,463)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	0.1 (0.25)	0.3 (0.76)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.4 (1.0)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	9.0	8.8	9.4	7.5	7.9	8.2	7.4	6.7	6.1	6.8	7.9	9.0	94.7
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.4
Source: NOAA[5][6]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	533		—
1860	1,144		114.6%
1870	1,100		−3.8%
1880	1,113		1.2%
1890	1,298		16.6%
1900	1,561		20.3%
1910	3,002		92.3%
1920	6,105		103.4%
1930	5,623		−7.9%
1940	6,677		18.7%
1950	9,787		46.6%
1960	12,785		30.6%
1970	13,996		9.5%
1980	15,084		7.8%
1990	13,661		−9.4%
2000	13,027		−4.6%
2010	13,082		0.4%
2020	11,928		−8.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]

2020 census

Minden city, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000[8]	Pop 2010[9]	Pop 2020[10]	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	6,014	5,939	4,966	46.17%	45.40%	41.63%
Black or African American alone (NH)	6,776	6,736	6,352	52.02%	51.49%	53.25%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	36	25	25	0.28%	0.19%	0.21%
Asian alone (NH)	35	42	60	0.27%	0.32%	0.50%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	5	1	7	0.04%	0.01%	0.06%
Other Race alone (NH)	2	11	23	0.02%	0.08%	0.19%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	79	145	311	0.61%	1.11%	2.61%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	80	183	184	0.61%	1.40%	1.54%
Total	13,027	13,082	11,928	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 11,928 people, 5,189 households, and 3,126 families residing in the city.

Government

City Administration	Administrators
Mayor	Nick Cox
Police Chief	Jared McIver
Attorney	Jimbo Yocom

Media

Television

Minden is part of the Shreveport media market for television.^[11]

Notable people

• Gene Austin, entertainer, singer and songwriter
• Louis Dunbar, basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters
• L'Jarius Sneed, NFL cornerback for the Kansas City Chiefs