East of Jonesboro is the Jimmie Davis State Park, which includes Caney Lake Reservoir.

[3][4] During the American Civil War Confederate General Richard Taylor sent five companies into Jackson and Winn parishes to arrest conscripts who failed to report for duty, and to halt jayhawker groups in the area.

[5] Jonesboro became an industrial mill town in the 20th century, producing lumber and turpentine products from the pine forests.

Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, ordained that year as a minister of the Church of God in Christ, and Earnest "Chilly Willy" Thomas founded the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an organized African-American, armed self-defense group to protect activists and their families.

In February 1965, these two men and other CORE workers traveled 300 miles to Bogalusa, Louisiana, another small mill town, where they founded another chapter of the Deacons.

Governor Al Smith of New York received 100 percent of the vote in 1928 (from white voters) in his losing race against Herbert C.

[15] In the 1960s, the majority of conservative white voters began to shift their support to Republican presidential candidates, and then to those at the state level.

In 1960, Richard M. Nixon led parishwide with 43.9 percent against both John F. Kennedy and a rival slate of unpledged segregationist electors.

[16] Jackson Parish has served as a reliable bellwether for the state of Louisiana, having voted for the statewide presidential winner in 15 straight elections since 1964.

Since the late 20th century, Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George W. Bush each carried the parish twice.

Another 882 ballots (11.7 percent) were held by Ross Perot of Texas, who ran as an Independent and thereafter founded his Reform Party.