Vernon Parish (La.)

Vernon Parish (French: Paroisse de Vernon) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,750. The parish seat and most populous municipality is Leesville. Bordered on the west by the Sabine River, the parish was founded in 1871 during the Reconstruction era. It was long a center of the timber industry, which harvested pine in the hills and bottomland hardwoods. Construction of a railway to the area in 1897 stimulated the marketing of lumber and businesses in the area. Since World War II, Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk, has been most important to the parish economy. The population of the Leesville area rapidly increased fivefold after the fort was opened. Vernon Parish is part of the Fort Johnson South, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the DeRidder-Fort Johnson South, LA Combined Statistical Area.