by Alana A. Carmon

Claiborne Parish is the namesake of the first American governor of Louisiana, William C. C. Claiborne. Established in 1828, Claiborne was carved from the vast parish of Natchitoches. At the time of the parish’s inception its territory included the present day parishes of Bossier, Bienville, Webster and portions of Lincoln, Red River, Winn, and Jackson.

Filled with buffalo, deer, turkeys, and other wild game, early settlers found an important regional hunting ground in Claiborne Parish. After the parish’s first cotton gin was erected in 1824, cotton became the parish’s leading crop, and Claiborne Parish was home to the state’s first cotton factory.

Cotton continues to be a mainstay of the parish’s economy along with other agricultural crops such as corn, soybeans, peanuts, and sweet potatoes. Oil production and the forestry industry also supplement Claiborne’s income. Some of the parish’s annual festivals, such as Northwest Louisiana Dairy Festival and Oil Patch Festival, celebrate Claiborne’s agricultural and industrial pursuits.