Claiborne Parish Louisiana Genealogy and History
Founded: March 15, 1828
Named for: William C. C. Claiborne
Parish Seat: Homer
Try our genealogy search engine
Search Free Claiborne Parish, Louisiana Genealogy and Family History Records Online including census, cemetery, vital, military and other genealogical and historical records that can be used for your family history research.
Claiborne Parish, Louisiana genealogy and family history page is a place where you can come in and research your genealogy and family history. We also do our best to provide a history of the area, to provide you with an overview of the time in which your ancestors lived.
We regret that we are unable to do personal research for you. All genealogical and family history records we come across are being added to this website. Please keep checking back.
History
John Murrell moved his family from Arkansas to the Flat Lick Bayou area about 6 miles west of present-day Homer in 1818, and they became the first known non-natives to permanently settle in Claiborne Parish. As more settlers moved into the area, the Murrell house served as a church, school and post office. When the state legislature created Claiborne Parish out of Natchitoches Parish in 1828, all governmental business, including court, began being held in the Murrell house. This continued until the new parish's police jury selected Russellville (now a ghost town located northeast of Athens) as the parish seat. As the population began swelling in what was then the western part of the parish, the seat was moved to Overton (another modern ghost town found near Minden) in 1836, because of its position at the head of the navigable portion of Dorcheat Bayou. Due to flooding and health concerns, the parish seat was moved to Athens in 1846, but an 1848 fire destroyed the courthouse and all the records in it. Soon thereafter the Claiborne Police Jury chose the present site for the parish seat, which came to be named, Homer.
Much of the Claiborne Parish, Louisiana history is preserved in the Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum, located across from the parish courthouse in Homer.
Communities
Towns: Haynesville, Homer (parish seat and largest municipality).
Villages: Athens, Lisbon, Junction City.
Unincorporated communities: Arizona, Lake Claiborne, Marsalis, Russellville, Summerfield.
Free Claiborne Parish Louisiana Genealogy Records Online
| Biographies | Birth Records | Cemetery Records | Census Records |
| Church Records | Cities & Towns | County Records | Death Records |
| Family Bibles | History Topics | Marriage Records | Military Records |
| Miscellaneous Data | Newspaper Data | Obituaries | School Records |
Genealogy Research in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Claiborne Parish Louisiana Clerk of Court
512 East Main
P.O. Box 330
Homer, LA 71040
Phone: 318-927-9601
Website
Adjacent Parishes
- Columbia County, Arkansas (northwest)
- Union County, Arkansas (northeast)
- Union Parish (east)
- Lincoln Parish (southeast)
- Bienville Parish (south)
- Webster Parish (west)
If you know of a Claiborne Parish Genealogy link that should be added to this list, please Contact us