Grant

Formed March 6, 1869 (50^th parish)

Grant Parish (22,163), Colfax (1,434)

The cement and stone front of the Modern building is not unusual but the back half of the 1955 facility is metal.  The courthouse is on Main Street at 2^nd Street.  Main Street is Louisiana State Highway 8 in this part of the community.  The building was enlarged in 1966.  Calhoun Landing was the name of the first parish seat and later changed to Colfax.  There was a 1912 courthouse in Colfax.  Grant Parish was created on March 6, 1869 from parts of Winn and Rapides parishes as the 50^th parish.  Large oaks, a second story patio, and a bell on the roof add character to the facility.  Barron, Heinberg, & Brocato were the architects.  United States Vice President, Schuyler Colfax, provided the parish seat name.  The parish gets its name from United States President Ulysses S. Grant. 

Grant Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive).  It has 8 Police Jury Members (legislative.)  One District Court Judge and Five Justice Court Judges serve Grant Parish (judicial.) The parish is in central Louisiana just to the north of Alexandria, Louisiana.  The Red River forms the western border of the parish.  The parish center is 20 miles Northeast of Colfax nearer Dry Prong.  The parish is surrounded clockwise by Winn, La Salle, Rapides, and Natchitoches parishes. 

The area of the parish is 664 square miles.  It is 33 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 40 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 33.4 persons per square mile making it 39 out of 64 in the state.  Grant Parish has 15.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 71 comes through the parish from Natchitoches to Rapides parishes, northwest to south.  United States Highway 165 enters from the northeast, La Salle Parish, and exits south, Rapides Parish.  United States Highway 167 goes north to south through the parish, Winn Parish to Rapides Parish.  The parish is shaped like an anvil leaning to the west.  Colfax is on the western border in the southwest part of the parish.  Colfax is the parish seat and the largest city.  It is 6.5% of the parish population.  This parish is in the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area.