Beauregard Parish () is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,549. The

parish seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

and most populous municipality is DeRidder. The parish was formed on January 1, 1913. Beauregard Parish comprises the DeRidder, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The governing body is by the police jury system.

History

Spanish and French rule

Until 1762, the land that would eventually become Beauregard Parish was a part of the Spanish holdings in Louisiana, as, at that time, the border between

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

was acknowledged as the Rio Hondo (now known as the Calcasieu river); however the land between the Rio Hondo and the Sabine river was in some dispute as the French were beginning to occupy land on the west side of the Rio Hondo. In 1762, King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

of France secretly gave Louisiana to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau. From 1762 to 1800, the region was a part of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

. In 1800, the secret

Third Treaty of San Ildefonso The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secret agreement signed on 1 October 1800 between Spain and the French Republic by which Spain agreed in principle to exchange its North American colony of Louisiana for territories in Tuscany. The terms we ...

transferred possession of Louisiana back to the French, although Spain continued to administer the land until 1803. In this period, the only European settlers to the land that would become Beauregard Parish were a few individuals with Spanish land grants. laims to Land Between the Rio Hondo and Sabine Rivers in Louisiana. Communicated to the Senate January 31, 1825/ref>

Neutral Ground

After the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1803, the region stretching from the Sabine River in the west to the

Calcasieu River The Calcasieu River ( ; ) is a river on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southwestern Louisiana. Approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed J ...

in the east was claimed by both Spain and the

, leading to little law enforcement by either country. In order to avoid a war over the border, the two countries agreed that the land in contention would remain neutral and free of armed forces from either side. The area became known as the Neutral Ground or the Sabine Free State. During this period, the armies in the area—those of the United States and Spain—allowed the running of a ferry, enabling places such as Burr's Ferry in Vernon Parish, to prosper. The rest of the area was lawless, except for the occasional joint military venture to rid the area of "undesirables". However, even with the border dispute, several pioneers did settle the land during this period and were eventually given 3rd class homestead claims. The Adams-Onís Treaty, signed in 1819 and ratified in 1821, recognized the U.S. claim, setting the final Louisiana western border at the Sabine River. Image:Calcasieurivermap.png, The Calcasieu River formed part of the eastern boundary of the Neutral Ground. Image:Sabinefreestate.png, The Neutral Ground, or Sabine Free State. Its western border was the Sabine River.

Parish origin

In 1804, the United States organized present-day Louisiana as the

Territory of Orleans The Territory of Orleans or Orleans Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from October 1, 1804, until April 30, 1812, when it was Admission to ...

. In 1805 the territory was further divided into 12 counties. Opelousas County included the entire southwestern section of the state, and extending almost to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

in the northeast. By 1807 the counties were reorganized into parishes. St. Landry was one of the original nineteen

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

established by the Louisiana Legislature. St. Landry was the largest parish in Louisiana, called the Imperial St. Landry Parish. For a short period after the fall of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Opelousas was not just the county seat but was the state capitol (until it was permanently moved to

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

). Calcasieu Parish was created March 24, 1840, from the western portion of Saint Landry Parish. Calcasieu Parish has since been divided into five smaller parishes. The original area of Calcasieu Parish was called Imperial Calcasieu Parish. The bill to create Beauregard Parish out of the northern area of Imperial Calasieu Parish was passed in 1912 and took effect at the beginning of 1913. The Parish was named after P.G.T. Beauregard, a Confederate general.

Parish organization

Although one faction wanted the town of Singer to be the parish seat, DeRidder was chosen by a majority of voters on October 15, 1912. (Today, the unincorporated community of Singer still exists and includes a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, store, and school.) The parish was organized with a police jury as the governing body. Interim, county-wide police jury,

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

were appointed. However, on December 3, 1912, an election was held for the offices of

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

clerk of court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court and administering oaths ...

, assessor,

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

, superintendent of public education, police juror, justice of the peace,

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

, and members of the

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

in each of the wards in the parish.

Native Americans

At least four

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

s lived in Beauregard Parish around the time it was founded. One was about six miles south of

Sugartown Sugartown was the name of at least three Cherokee towns. In Cherokee, the name was Kulsetsiyi (Syllabary:ᎫᎳᏎᏥᏱ), meaning "honey-locust place" from "kulsetsi" ( honey-locust) and "yi" (locative). The word "kulsetsi" came to be used for ...

on Indian Branch, another was just north of the old W.B. Welborn home on Bundick Creek, another was along the mouth of Anacoco Creek and another at Merryville, across the street from where Merryville High School now stands.

The 1941 military build-up

On November 28, 1941, a

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

was opened in DeRidder. (Of the more than 500 USO's opened during WW II, this was the first off-post USO to open in the U.S.) 89,000 soldiers visited the DeRidder USO; 15,000 took showers; and 27,000 viewed movies. The building was entered into the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on February 25, 1992. August through September 1941 saw the locally stationed military engaged in the

Louisiana Maneuvers The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of major U.S. Army exercises held from August to September 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana, an area bounded by the Sabine River to the west, the Calcasieu River to the east, and by the city of ...

—the largest military maneuver in United States history (with more than 500,000 soldiers training for war). The rapid influx of so many military personnel created problems that stemmed, in part, from alcohol overconsumption. In response, residents of Beauregard Parish voted to become a dry parish.

Law enforcement

The parish level police agency is the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office. The current Sheriff (2020)is Mark V. Herford

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of , of which is land and (0.7%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 171 * U.S. Highway 190 * Louisiana Highway 12 * Louisiana Highway 26 * Louisiana Highway 27

Adjacent counties and parishes

* Vernon Parish (north) * Allen Parish (east) * Jefferson Davis Parish (southeast) * Calcasieu Parish (south) * Newton County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(west)

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 36,549 people, 13,520 households, and 9,219 families residing in the parish.

Education

Beauregard Parish School Board operates the parish public schools. It is in the service area of Sowela Technical Community College.

National Guard

The A Company, 3-156th Infantry Battalion is based in De Ridder. This unit deployed to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

twice as part of the 256th IBCT, in 2004-5 and 2010.

Communities

City

* DeRidder (parish seat and largest municipality)

Town

* Merryville

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated places

* Longville * Oretta *

Singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Unincorporated communities

* Dry Creek * Graybow * Junction * RagleyRagley isn't incorporated according to the State's official website fo
Beauregard Parish
* Wye

National Register of Historic Places

There are 12 places listed on the

including the Beauregard Parish Courthouse, the Beauregard Parish Jail, the Beauregard Parish Training School, the DeRidder Commercial Historic District and the Burks House. See National Register of Historic Places listings in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana.

Politics

Beauregard Parish was a Democratic stronghold at the time of its founding, and it remained so until the 1950s, when it became a swing Parish. In 1984 it supported Republican

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and has remained in the Republican column since. From 2004 onward through 2024, every presidential election has broken the previous record for the strongest Republican performance in Parish history.

References

External links

Beauregard Parish

Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office
Geology * Snead, J., P. V. Heinrich, and R. P. McCulloh, 2002
''De Ridder 30 x 60 minute geologic quadrangle.''
Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. {{Coord, 30.65, -93.34, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-LA_source:UScensus1990 Louisiana parishes Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Territorial disputes of the United States 1913 establishments in Louisiana Populated places established in 1913 Parishes in Central Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana