In 1836 Charles Veeder, a German-American born in New York State, built an inn on a hilltop a few miles from Bayou Dorcheat, reportedly on a salt lick known as the region’s best deer hunting site. By 1837 he had laid out Minden in the shape of a parallelogram and divided it into lots, naming it after his ancestors’ home in Minden, Germany. The town prospered and became the largest town in old Claiborne Parish. Veeder hoped Natchitoches Parish would divide and that Minden would become the parish seat of Claiborne Parish. He left for California in 1849. Minden was incorporated in 1850 when Webster Parish was created from Claiborne Parish, and it became the parish seat in 1871. On November 5, 1992, the area around the original parallelogram, encompassing 71 buildings, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1993 the Minden Historic Residential Association was formed. On October 29, 2007, the area was officially recognized by the city of Minden and Mayor Bill Robertson, and protective ordinances were created and a historic commission appointed in 2008 for future protection and preservation. Mona Miriam Robinson Monk, born August 23, 1924, and died April 1, 2006, was the beloved music and band director of the Lowe Junior High School Band from 1968 to 1980 and taught the Expanding Horizons program for gifted children in Webster Parish until her retirement in 1989. A member of First Baptist Church and an active witness for God, she was remembered as a happy, loving person, a successful teacher, and someone who cared about the history of Minden and of her home, the McDonald–Monk Home. She purchased the home in 1966 and raised her family there. The house, built by John W. McDonald in 1900, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Active in many civic organizations, she was one of the original organizers of the Minden Historic Residential District Association in 1992 and served as its first president in 1993. She was remembered for her love of God, family, music, the history of Minden, and the historic residential district.