Minden is a small city in and the parish seat of Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 11,928. The Main Street district of Minden is recognized as a Louisiana Main Street Community, a Louisiana Cultural Products District, and is sited on the National Register of Historic Places. Minden is the core and principal city of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of all of Webster Parish, which is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City–Minden CSA.
thumb|Aerial view of Minden, 1935
History
Minden was established in 1836 by Charles Veeder.
The town's name is derived from the German city of Minden.
The city of Minden was used as a blueprint for the fictional city of Bon Temps, the setting of the Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris.
During the Civil War, a large Confederate encampment was located inside of Minden. It housed about 15,000 Confederate soldiers. The town served as a supply depot for the Confederate Army. Close to thirty Confederate soldiers who died in the Battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill are buried in the Old Minden Cemetery.
In the Great Blizzard of 1899, Minden experienced the coldest temperature ever recorded in Louisiana, when the temperature fell on February 13, 1899, to .
During the Great Depression, one of the two Minden banks failed and a fire destroyed a major section of the downtown area (1931).
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File:Louisiana - Miden - NARA - 23940431 (cropped).jpg|Aftermath of the 1933 tornado
File:Louisiana - Miden - NARA - 23940433 (cropped).jpg|Aftermath of the 1933 tornado
</gallery>
On May 1, 1933, a tornado occurred in the town, destroying 20% of the homes.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.0 km² (12.0 mi²). 30.8 km (11.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.75% water.
Climate
Minden holds the records for both the highest and lowest temperature recorded in Louisiana in February, which is also the coldest temperature recorded in Louisiana in general. On February 13, 1899, the temperature dropped to -16 °F (-26.7 °C).
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Minden city, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!
!% 2000
!% 2010
!
|-
|White alone (NH)
|6,014
|5,939
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4,966
|46.17%
|45.40%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |41.63%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|6,776
|6,736
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6,352
|52.02%
|51.49%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |53.25%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|36
|25
|style='background: #ffffe6; |25
|0.28%
|0.19%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.21%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|35
|42
|style='background: #ffffe6; |60
|0.27%
|0.32%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.50%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|5
|1
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7
|0.04%
|0.01%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.06%
|-
|Other Race alone (NH)
|2
|11
|style='background: #ffffe6; |23
|0.02%
|0.08%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.19%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|79
|145
|style='background: #ffffe6; |311
|0.61%
|1.11%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.61%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|80
|183
|style='background: #ffffe6; |184
|0.61%
|1.40%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.54%
|-
|Total
|13,027
|13,082
|style='background: #ffffe6; |11,928
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Minden had a population of 11,928. The median age was 41.0 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 82.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 78.6 males age 18 and over.
91.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 8.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 5,048 households in Minden, of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 32.2% were married-couple households, 18.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 44.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 3,126 families.
Notable people
- Gene Austin, entertainer, singer and songwriter
- Louis Dunbar, basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters
- Percy Mayfield, blues singer and songwriter
- L'Jarius Sneed, NFL cornerback for the Kansas City Chiefs
- J. D. Watkins, judge and politician
- Rita Days, Former MO State Senator and St. Louis,MO County Chair