Gibsland, Louisiana
| Gibsland, Louisiana | |
| Town | |
 Downtown Gibsland
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Louisiana |
| Parish | Bienville |
| Elevation | 272 ft (82.9 m) |
| Coordinates | 32°32′34″N 93°03′34″W / 32.54278°N 93.05944°WCoordinates: 32°32′34″N 93°03′34″W / 32.54278°N 93.05944°W |
| Area | 6.87 km2 (2.7 sq mi) |
| - land | 6.82 km2 (3 sq mi) |
| - water | 0.06 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Population | 979 (2010) |
| Density | 143.6/km2 (371.9/sq mi) |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Area code | 318 |
  Location of Gibsland in Louisiana
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 Location of Louisiana in the United States
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Gibsland is a town in Bienville Parish in northern Louisiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 979. 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 , 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.
In 1890, with ten students, Coleman Baptist Male and Female College opened its doors to educate the children of nearby freed slaves. The institution produced primarily teachers and preachers.
Supported by the Southern Baptist Church, Coleman College at its peak owned some 100 acres (40 ha), of which ten were devoted to educational purposes. There were eight buildings which included classrooms, auditorium, dormitories, and an administrative building. The college offered a choir, glee club, and intercollegiate athletics. Nicknamed the Bulldogs, Coleman College's chief athletic rival was the historically black Grambling College Tigers in Grambling in Lincoln Parish, subsequently Grambling State University. Enrollment at Coleman reached as high as four hundred in some years. The college closed in Gibsland in 1944. Among its graduates were the first president of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Dr. J. S. Clark, and Ada Bell Lewis Coleman. Ada Coleman was the mother of Mildred Coleman Marks, Geraldine Coleman Gaillord, and the deceased McVicker Monroe Coleman, Jr., and Georgia Coleman McClaron.
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