The Natchitoches Genealogical & Historical Association

Location:	The Natchitoches Genealogical and Historical Association (NGHA) Library is located on the second floor of the Old Natchitoches Parish Courthouse on the northeast corner of Church and Second Streets.
Hours:	Open 9 a.m to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas week and other major holidays.
Resources:	Includes French records dating back to 1776, marriages, conveyances, mortgages and books; Natchitoches Parish Census records 1820 through 1920; miscellaneous census records for other Louisiana parishes and states; IGI records, and Natchitoches Times microfilm records for March 1903 - Oct 1996.
Staff: Mailing Address: Dues:	Volunteer members staff the library each day. Research assistants are on call for special projects and for assistance in researching records in the Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court's office, located in the adjacent building. Phone number / Addresses: (318) 357-2235 NGHA, P.O. Box 1349, Natchitoches, LA 71458-1349 and [email protected]. Dues of $15.00 per year include the biannual Association publication The Natchitoches Genealogist.
History of Natchitoches Parish and its Records	On April 10, 1805 Natchitoches County was established. The original county comprised all of the territory in the ecclesiastical parish of St. Francis, an area which includes the present parishes of: Claiborne , established in 1828 from Natchitoches Parish; Caddo , which was established in 1838 from Natchitoches Parish; Bossier , established in 1843 from Claiborne and part of Lincoln Parishes; Sabine , established in 1843 from Natchitoches Parish; DeSoto , established in 1843 from Natchitoches and Caddo Parishes; Bienville , established in 1848 from Claiborne Parish; Winn , established in 1851 from Natchitoches, Catahoula and Rapides Parishes; Grant , established in 1869 from Rapides and Winn Parishes; Webster , established in 1871 from Claiborne, Bienville and Bossier Parishes; Vernon , established in 1871 from Natchitoches, Rapides and Sabine Parishes; Red River , established in 1871 from Caddo, Bossier, Bienville, Natchitoches and DeSoto Parishes. The parish designation came into use about 1808. Records for the years prior to the establishment of the various parishes are housed at the Court House in Natchitoches, including the original French records. Abstracts of the Catholic Church Registers of the French and Spanish Post of St. Jean Baptiste, Natchitoches, have been published by Elizabeth Shown Mills, covering the years 1729-1850. Military censuses, Military roles and Tax lists have been published, dating from 1722-1803. Copies of many of these records and other original records are available at the Natchitoches Genealogical and Historical Library, the Natchitoches Parish Courthouse, and the Northwestern State University's Watson Library, in Natchitoches.