Red River Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, in the northwestern part of the state along the Red River. It had a population of 7,620 at the 2020 census and covers 402 square miles (1,040 km2) centred near 32°05′N 93°20′W.
Coushatta is the county seat and its postal code is 71019. The parish has one town, three villages, and roughly 29 unincorporated communities. It sits in the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in Red River Parish
Red River Parish has four incorporated places — one town and three villages — plus a long list of small unincorporated communities and crossroads scattered along the Red River bottomlands. The table below carries over every settlement name from the parish’s historical gazetteer; unincorporated places are marked “Unincorp.”
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coushatta | Town · seat | — | 71019 |
| Edgefield | Village | — | 71019 |
| Hall Summit | Village | — | 71034 |
| Martin | Village | — | 71019 |
| Abington | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Armistead | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Bayou Pierre | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Carroll | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Crichton | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Cross Roads | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Crosskeys | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| East Point | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Emmett | Unincorp. | — | 71034 |
| Gahagan | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Grand Bayou | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Halfway | Unincorp. | — | 71034 |
| Hanna | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Harmon | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Hollingsworth | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Howard | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Lake End | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Liberty | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Loggy Bayou | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Magnolia | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Methvin | Unincorp. | — | 71034 |
| Mount Zion | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| New Hope | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Oxbow | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Piermont | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Redoak | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Westdale | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Williams | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
| Womack | Unincorp. | — | 71019 |
ZIP Codes
- 71019 — Coushatta (also serves most of the parish, including Edgefield, Martin, and the unincorporated communities along the Red River)
- 71034 — Hall Summit (also serves Emmett, Halfway, and Methvin)
Every community in the parish shares one of these two post offices; there is no separate ZIP code for the smaller crossroads communities.
Geography
Red River Parish straddles the Red River valley in northwestern Louisiana, with the river’s alluvial floodplain running through the county’s centre and forested uplands to the east and west. Of its 402 square miles, 13 square miles is water — oxbow lakes and old river channels left behind as the Red River shifted course over the centuries, including Loggy Bayou and the lake at Lake End. Bayou Pierre, another former channel, cuts across the southern part of the parish and gives one of its communities its name. The parish borders Caddo Parish to the northwest, Bossier Parish to the north, Bienville Parish to the northeast, Natchitoches Parish to the southeast, and DeSoto Parish to the west.
Demographics
Red River Parish had 7,620 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 20 people per square mile of land. Coushatta is by far the largest community, followed by Martin. Median household income in the parish runs well below the Louisiana median of $58,229, reflecting the area’s rural, agriculture-based economy.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture remains central to the parish’s economy, with cotton, soybeans, corn, and cattle the leading products on the Red River bottomlands that once supported large antebellum cotton plantations. Timber and forestry operations work the upland acreage away from the river. Parish government, the Coushatta and Red River Parish school system, and small retail and service businesses along U.S. Route 71 make up most of the remaining local employment, with many residents commuting north to Shreveport-Bossier City for work.
History
Red River Parish was created on March 2, 1871, during Reconstruction, carved from parts of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, DeSoto, and Natchitoches Parishes and named for the Red River that runs through it. Coushatta was chosen as the seat and takes its name from the Coushatta (Koasati) people who once lived along this stretch of the river. Before the Civil War, the plantation economy of the district was built on cotton and enslaved labor, and the parish’s population and politics were reshaped in the following century by the Great Migration, as many Black residents left for cities in the North and West. Levee and drainage work through the 20th century tamed much of the Red River’s old floodplain, opening more of the bottomland to row-crop farming.
Getting There
U.S. Route 71 runs the length of the parish along the Red River, connecting Coushatta to Shreveport and Alexandria; Louisiana Highway 507 and Highway 173 serve the smaller communities to the east and west.
- Shreveport — 35 miles northwest
- Natchitoches — 30 miles southeast
- Minden — 30 miles northeast
- Mansfield — 25 miles west
The nearest commercial airport is Shreveport Regional Airport.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Red River Parish?
It is in northwestern Louisiana, along the Red River between Shreveport and Natchitoches.
What is the population of Red River Parish?
7,620 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Red River Parish?
402 square miles (1,040 km2), of which 389 square miles is land.
What is the county seat of Red River Parish?
Coushatta is the parish seat and largest town.
How many towns and villages are in Red River Parish?
One town (Coushatta) and three villages (Edgefield, Hall Summit, and Martin), plus about 29 unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Red River Parish?
71019 (Coushatta) and 71034 (Hall Summit) cover the entire parish.
When was Red River Parish created?
It was organized on March 2, 1871, during Reconstruction.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Louisiana.