Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the indigenous Natchitoches people.

Numerous enslaved African Americans were brought to the area through the domestic slave trade to work the cotton, and provide all other skills on these plantations, generating the revenues for the wealthy planters before the Civil War.

[6] In the 1820s and early 1830s, Natchitoches also served as a freight transfer point for cotton shipped from parts of east Texas.

During the Civil War, Natchitoches was set on fire by Union soldiers who retreated through the town after their failed attempt to capture Shreveport.

Confederate cavalry pursued the fleeing soldiers and arrived in time to help extinguish the flames before the town was destroyed.

[8] As the parish seat, Natchitoches suffered from the decline in agricultural population through the mid-20th century, and grew at a markedly lower rate after 1960.

In the mid-1970s, Mayor Bobby DeBlieux and other preservationists believed that attracting tourists to the area, based on its historic assets of nearly intact plantations and numerous historic buildings, could be a key to attracting visitors, reviving the town, and stimulating new businesses.

Over the years, he worked with a variety of landowners and local people to gain support for designating a historic district in the city.

[9] By the end of the 20th century, the mile-long French colonial area of downtown, which lies along Cane Lake, was designated as a National Historic District.

The markedly intact downriver Magnolia and Oakland plantations were designated as National Historic Landmarks, and are part of what has been developed as the Cane River Creole National Historical Park,[9] which was authorized in 1994,[10] with the support of US Senator J. Bennett Johnston.

[9] Tours and interpretive programs at both sites continue to attract visitors, especially as they grapple with telling the difficult history of slavery and its aftermath at the plantations.

[13] In 1973, singer-songwriter Jim Croce was killed when his plane crashed as it was leaving Natchitoches Regional Airport.

The municipal water supply comes from nearby Sibley Lake, a formerly drained wetland dammed in 1962, which also offers fishing and boating.

The city of Natchitoches recently completed a restoration project to repair the century-old brick street.

During this process, workers removed each brick one by one, numbered it, cleaned it, and then replaced it after utilities, drainage, and the foundation were repaired beneath.

[citation needed] Natchitoches lies in a boundary region that separates the plains of Texas from the consistently humid Gulf Coast.

The city is in an area that frequently experiences severe thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes.

[citation needed] As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 18,039 people, 6,222 households, and 2,773 families residing in the city.

Following continued population decline in the area, in part due to mechanization of agriculture, by the 1970s, Natchitoches had suffered an economic downturn that resulted in a 65% vacancy in the commercial district.

Natchitoches Regional Airport serves cities (via FBO) such as Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Little Rock, Monroe, and Shreveport.

Gas stations and hotels have developed in this area and serve many of the Natchitoches Christmas Festival visitors.

In 1998, Natchitoches was named one of the top six places in the United States to retire by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine.

Because of this richness of culture, the area is one of the destinations on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail newly designated by the state.

Natchitoches, a popular tourism area of the state, is equipped to serve visitors with 11 national chain hotels, and 27 bed-and-breakfast inns.

While visiting the area, tourists may notice many unusual structures; these are many of the Natchitoches Christmas Festival lights.

Natchitoches is home to a branch of the Kisatchie National Forest, a designation promoted by naturalist Caroline Dormon to preserve regional natural wonders.

Both times, this company-sized unit deployed with the 256th Infantry Brigade., The Natchitoches Meat Pie is one of the official state foods of Louisiana.

[23] Natchitoches Regional Medical Center is a 78-bed facility that includes 45 medical/surgical beds and a 112-bed skilled nursing home.