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Gibsland, Louisiana | |
---|---|
Town | |
Coordinates: 32°32′34″N93°03′34″W / 32.54278°N 93.05944°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Louisiana |
Parish | Bienville |
Government | |
• Mayor | Ray Ivory, Sr. (No Party) |
Area | |
• Total | 2.65 sq mi (6.87 km2) |
• Land | 2.63 sq mi (6.82 km2) |
• Water | 0.02 sq mi (0.06 km2) |
Elevation | 272 ft (83 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 773 |
• Density | 293.58/sq mi (113.36/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-6 |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
Area code | 318 |
FIPS code | 22-28835 |
Gibsland is a town in Bienville Parish in northern Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 773. [2] The town is best known for its connecting railroads, as the birthplace of the defunct historically black Coleman College, and for the nearby shootings in 1934 of the bandits Bonnie and Clyde.
Gibsland native John McConathy was a champion basketball player at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, who later was the superintendent for the Bossier Parish School Board, in which capacity he was the guiding force behind the establishment of the $57 million Bossier Parish Community College. [3]
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Coleman College (also known as Coleman Academy) was a segregated African American secondary school founded in Gibsland in 1887 by O. L. Coleman; it was the first secondary school for Black students in northern Louisiana. [4] [5] It was affiliated with the Baptist Church, [6] and supported by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. [7] The institution produced primarily teachers and ministers. [5]
The school remained in the community until the Great Depression, in which it closed in 1937. [5] It later re-opened in Shreveport in 1943, [5] and remained there until the 1950s.
First incorporated in 1889, the Louisiana & North West Railroad Company operates 62 miles (100 km) of shortline between Gibsland and McNeil, Arkansas. The LNW interchanges on both ends of the line: with the Union Pacific (former St. Louis Southwestern) in McNeil; and with Kansas City Southern (former MidSouth, ICG) at Gibsland.
For many years the road was well-known among railfans for its unusual stable of F7 "covered wagons"—unusual motive power of choice for a backwoods southern shortline. In the early 1990s, the F units were sold off to various places, gradually replaced by Geeps from various locations. The LNW shops are located at Gibsland, a few hundred yards from one of the busiest interchange diamonds in all of the state. For decades, three different railroads interchanged in Gibsland. The switching activity could get so hectic the daily routine was known among railfans as the "Gibsland Shuffle."
On May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde, an infamous bank robbing duo, were killed by law enforcement officers off Louisiana Highway 154, south of Gibsland toward Sailes. [8] [9] [10]
Gibsland is located in northern Bienville Parish at 32°32′34″N93°3′13″W / 32.54278°N 93.05361°W (32.542675, -93.053511). [11]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.7 square miles (6.9 km2), of which 0.023 square miles (0.06 km2), or 0.81%, is water. [12]
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1900 | 558 | — | |
1910 | 1,065 | 90.9% | |
1920 | 798 | −25.1% | |
1930 | 1,090 | 36.6% | |
1940 | 1,023 | −6.1% | |
1950 | 1,085 | 6.1% | |
1960 | 1,150 | 6.0% | |
1970 | 1,380 | 20.0% | |
1980 | 1,354 | −1.9% | |
1990 | 1,224 | −9.6% | |
2000 | 1,119 | −8.6% | |
2010 | 979 | −12.5% | |
2020 | 773 | −21.0% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [13] |
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic) | 70 | 9.06% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 660 | 85.38% |
Native American | 1 | 0.13% |
Other/Mixed | 25 | 3.23% |
Hispanic or Latino | 17 | 2.2% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 773 people, 261 households, and 161 families residing in the town.
The Bienville Parish School Board operates the K-12 Gibsland–Coleman High School in Gibsland.
The Jonquil Jubilee and Historic and Garden Tour and the Bonnie and Clyde Festival are celebrated annually. The Jonquil Jubilee offers advice to area gardeners from botanists.
The Bonnie and Clyde Festival is held in Gibsland in mid-May. It features a staged bank robbery by actors portraying the infamous duo. The festival has been featured on the television program Weird U.S. on the History Channel. Bonnie and Clyde were killed off Louisiana Highway 154, south of Gibsland toward Sailes.
Gibsland is home to the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum located in the former Ma Canfield’s Café where the outlaws ate their last meal, a breakfast. [8] [9] The museum is owned and operated by Perry Carver. Linton Jay "Boots" Hinton (born January 1, 1934, died December 5, 2016), formerly of Dallas and a son of posse member Ted Hinton managed the museum until his health failed. The museum exhibits also mention the local posse members brought in for jurisdictional reasons, Bienville Parish Sheriff Henderson Jordan (1896–1958) and his chief deputy and successor as sheriff, Prentiss Oakley (1905–1957).
Gibsland-Coleman Alumni Association was organized in 1981. The first reunion was held in July 1981. The Gibsland-Coleman Alumni Association is a non-profit organization of alumni and other individuals who are interested in supporting the organization-mainly providing college scholarships annually to graduating seniors. Chapters are located in Houston, Los Angeles, and Gibsland. The reunion is held in Gibsland annually during the first weekend of July.
The present Mayor of Gibsland is Jeannie Richardson. Ms. Richardson qualified to run for mayor in the 2022 elections against incumbent Mayor Ray Ivory. Ms. Richardson won with a 67% majority. Ms. Richardson assumed the position of Mayor in January 2023 and will serve a four-year term. There are five Aldermen who serve on the Council of the Town of Gibsland. Julius Pearson, Gary Durham, Angela Adams, Dianna Pearson and Debra Rushing all qualified to run in the 2022 election, and were unopposed; therefore, they assumed their positions in January 2022. All the councilmembers were on the previous council with the exception of Angela Adams. This will be her first term. All councilmembers will serve a four-year term.
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut "Champion" Barrow were American bandits and multiple murderers who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The couple was known for their bank robberies and multiple murders, although they preferred to rob small stores or rural funeral homes. Their exploits captured the attention of the American press and its readership during what is occasionally referred to as the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934. They were ambushed by police and shot to death in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. They are believed to have murdered at least nine police officers and four civilians.
Lincoln Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,396. The parish was created on February 24, 1873, from parts of Bienville, Claiborne, Union, and Jackson parishes, and its boundaries have changed only once. This makes Lincoln Parish one of the Reconstruction parishes.
Bienville Parish is a parish located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,981. The parish seat and most populous municipality is Arcadia.
Arcadia is a town in, and the parish seat of, Bienville Parish in northern Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,919 at the 2010 census. Arcadia has the highest elevation of any incorporated municipality in Louisiana. Arcadia's name commemorates the Ancient Greek region of Arcadia.
Mount Lebanon is a town in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 83 at the 2010 census.
Homer is a town in and the parish seat of Claiborne Parish in northern Louisiana, United States. Named for the Greek poet Homer, the town was laid out around the Courthouse Square in 1850 by Frank Vaughn. The present-day brick courthouse, built in the Greek Revival style of architecture, is one of only four pre-Civil War courthouses in Louisiana still in use. The building, completed in 1860, was accepted by the Claiborne Parish Police Jury on July 20, 1861, at a cost of $12,304.36, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The other courthouses are in St. Francisville, St. Martinville and Thibodaux.
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located across the Red River from the larger Alexandria, and is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,555 at the 2010 census. It had been 13,829 in 2000; population hence grew by 5 percent over the preceding decade.
Primm is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States, primarily notable for its position straddling Interstate 15 at the Nevada–California border. It sits on Ivanpah Dry Lake, which extends to the north and south of town.
Sowers is a ghost town located approximately 11 miles northwest of Dallas, Texas in Dallas County. Today, the once rural community is located entirely within the boundaries of Irving, Texas. Of the original townsite, only the cemetery remains.
Francis Augustus Hamer was an American lawman and Texas Ranger who led the 1934 posse that tracked down and killed criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Renowned for his toughness, marksmanship, and investigative skill, he acquired status in the Southwest as the archetypal Texas Ranger. He was inducted into the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. His professional record and reputation are controversial, particularly with regard to his willingness to use extrajudicial killing even in an increasingly modernized society.
Ted Cass Hinton was a Dallas County, Texas, deputy sheriff, the youngest of the posse that ambushed and killed Bonnie and Clyde near Gibsland, Louisiana, on May 23, 1934.
Bienville Parish School Board (BPSB) is a school district headquartered in Arcadia, Louisiana, United States.
Black Lake Bayou is a 105-mile-long (169 km) waterway in northwest Louisiana, United States, that extends from north of Gibsland and travels south to Clarence. The watershed covers much of northwest Louisiana. The bayou meanders its way through Claiborne, Webster, Bienville, Red River and Natchitoches parishes. Black Lake Bayou empties into Black Lake, which drains to Saline Bayou, a tributary of the Red River.
Henry Methvin was an American criminal, a bank robber, and a Depression-era outlaw. He is best remembered as the final member of Bonnie and Clyde's gang. His role in the gang has often been misattributed to teenage gang member W.D. Jones as both men were portrayed as composite character "C.W. Moss" in the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
John R. McConathy was an American professional basketball player and educator, originally from Bienville Parish in North Louisiana. McConathy was selected in the 1951 NBA draft by the Syracuse Nationals after a collegiate career at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Louisiana, in which he was an All-American player. He played for the Milwaukee Hawks in 1951–52 and averaged 1.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per contest in 11 games.
William Claiborne Robinson, known as W. C. Robinson, was a mathematics professor paid $800 per year who was elevated for one year, 1889 to 1900, as the second president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.
Gibsland–Coleman High School, also known as Gibsland-Coleman Complex, is a K-12 public school in Gibsland, Louisiana, United States. It is a part of the Bienville Parish School Board. It previously was named "Gibsland Colored High School", and Coleman High School.
The Highwaymen is a 2019 American period crime thriller film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by John Fusco. The film stars Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, two former Texas Rangers who attempt to track down and apprehend notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930s. Kathy Bates, John Carroll Lynch, Kim Dickens, Thomas Mann and William Sadler also star.
Coleman College, formerly Coleman Academy, was a segregated African American secondary school founded in Gibsland, Louisiana, and incorporated in 1887. It was the first secondary school for Black students in northern Louisiana. It was founded by Oliver Lewis Coleman. From 1943 to 1950s, the school relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, before its closure.
The Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum is a tourist attraction located in Gibsland, Louisiana, the small town where gangsters Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death on May 23, 1934. The museum has been open since 2005. The museum features a "Death Car", similar to the vehicle in which the duo was killed. The actual car is owned by The Primm Valley Resort & Casino in Primm, Nevada.
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