Preserving the sacred burial grounds and ancestral records of Bienville Parish, Louisiana — honoring those who came before us and safeguarding their memory for future generations.
Parish History
Bienville Parish is located in the northwestern portion of Louisiana, named in honor of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville — the French-Canadian explorer and governor of French Louisiana for thirty years, and founder of the city of New Orleans. Created by the Louisiana State Legislature on March 14, 1848 from Claiborne Parish, the parish covers 822 square miles and contains some of Louisiana's most historically significant burial grounds.
Its cemeteries are living archives — recording generations of families, Civil War soldiers, freed people, church congregations, and community leaders whose stories might otherwise be lost to time.
Ruben Drake moved his family from South Carolina and established Mount Lebanon, the parish's first permanent settlement. The Drakes, devout Baptists, founded a church and school that would eventually evolve into Mount Lebanon University — the forerunner of Louisiana Christian University.
The Louisiana State Legislature formally created Bienville Parish on March 14, 1848. Sparta was selected as the original parish seat, a thriving community with two churches, two Masonic Lodges, three private schools, and a population of 250 by 1860.
Bienville Parish was strongly Confederate. Citizens organized the Sparta Guards for the Confederacy. Parish residents also participated in building fortifications along the nearby Red River, much of this labor performed by enslaved people hired out by planters.
With the coming of the railroad through the northern part of the parish, Sparta was bypassed and declined. In a dramatic 1893 episode, Arcadian citizens surrounded the Sparta courthouse by night and transferred the parochial records — an event newspapers called "the night Bienville government was stolen." Arcadia has served as the parish seat ever since. All that remains of Old Sparta today are two historic cemeteries.
On May 23, 1934, six law-enforcement officers ambushed and killed Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow on Louisiana State Highway 154, between Gibsland and Sailes in Bienville Parish. Their car was towed to Arcadia, where crowds had already gathered. The fugitives were brought to the former Conger Funeral Home in Arcadia before their bodies were sent to Dallas.
Bienville Parish's 100+ known cemeteries — many threatened by neglect, vegetation overgrowth, or development — represent an irreplaceable record of the parish's diverse peoples. The Friends of Parish Bienville Historical Cemeteries Committee works to document, restore, and protect these sacred sites.
Preserved African American Heritage
Among the most historically significant — and most vulnerable — sites in Bienville Parish are its African American cemeteries. Many date to the antebellum and Reconstruction eras, serving as the final resting places of enslaved people, freedmen and women, and their descendants. These burial grounds are vital to understanding the full history of the parish and honoring the contributions of Black communities throughout Louisiana's history.
Also known as Old Fellowship Cemetery
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African American family cemetery
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African American congregation
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One of two remaining traces of old Sparta
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Also known as Woodard Cemetery
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Cemetery Directory
The following is a compiled directory of known cemeteries in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, gathered from genealogical records, the Louisiana Gravestones Project, FamilySearch, and USGenWeb archives. Many of these sites require documentation, restoration, and ongoing preservation efforts.
Our committee — operating under Saving Our Community Korporation Inc. — is actively working to document, restore, and protect these sacred sites. If you have information about a cemetery not listed here, or wish to volunteer, please reach out.
Contact the CommitteeExternal Resources
Official statewide database of historic cemeteries launched by the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, covering all 64 parishes.
Visit Database ↗The organization behind the Louisiana Register of Historic Cemeteries and statewide preservation advocacy.
Visit LTHP ↗Free genealogy and history database with individual cemetery records and burial transcriptions for Bienville Parish.
Search Records ↗Volunteer-maintained archive of cemetery records, burial inscriptions, and genealogical data for Bienville Parish.
View Archives ↗Documents African American cemeteries across Northwest Louisiana, including a comprehensive list for Bienville Parish.
Visit Site ↗Access cemetery records, burial transcriptions, and genealogy guides for Bienville Parish through FamilySearch's free library.
Search FamilySearch ↗