Natchitoches

Formed March 31, 1807 (6^th parish)

Natchitoches Parish (37,519), Natchitoches (18,047)

A tan brick structure sits on a hill on Church Street between 2^nd and 3^rd Streets.  J. W. Smith and Associates are the architects for this 1940 Art Deco courthouse.  The courthouse was enlarged with an Annex in 1959.  Louisiana State Highway 6 runs one block to the east of the locale.  There was an 1896 version of the courthouse also in Natchitoches, the only parish seat.  Natchitoches Parish is one of the original parishes (6^th parish) created on March 31, 1807.  Natchitoches was the name of a local Native American tribe which translates to “chinquapin eaters.” 

Natchitoches Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive).  It has 5 Council Members (legislative.)  Two District Court Judges and Three Justice Court Judges serve Natchitoches Parish (judicial.) The parish is between Shreveport, Louisiana (to the northwest) and Alexandria, Louisiana (to the southeast) in the northwest part of the state.  The Red River runs through the northeast and then forms the southeast border of the parish.  The parish center is in Natchitoches 1.4 miles South-Southwest of the city center.  The parish is surrounded clockwise by Bienville, Winn, Grant, Rapides, Vernon, Sabine, De Soto, and Red River parishes. 

The area of the parish is 1299 square miles.  It is 9 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 29 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 28.9 persons per square mile making it 45 out of 64 in the state.  Natchitoches Parish has 56.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 49 goes northwest to southeast, De Soto Parish to Rapides Parish.  United States Highway 71 enters from Red River Parish, north, and goes into Winn Parish, east.  United States Highway 84 crosses east to west, Winn Parish to Red River Parish.  The parish’s shape is like a locomotive with the smokestack in the northwest.  Natchitoches city is in the north part of the parish.  Natchitoches is the parish seat and the largest city.  It is 48.1% of the parish population.  The parish and seat are pronounced NAK-I-TISH.  This parish is in the Natchitoches Micropolitan Statistical Area.