Minden is a small city 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 included in the Shreveport–Bossier City–Minden CSA.

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 −16 F. During the Great Depression, one of the two Minden banks failed and a fire destroyed a major section of the downtown area (1931). 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 km2 (11.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km2 (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

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 11,928 people, 5,189 households, and 3,126 families residing in the city.

Notable people