Incorporated in 1914, Bogalusa is one of the youngest towns in Louisiana. In the late 1930s, this operation was replaced with paper mills and chemical operations. Located in an area of pine forests, in the early 20th century, this industrial city was developed as a company town, to provide worker housing and services in association with a Great Southern Lumber Company sawmill.
The name of the city derives from the Choctaw language term bogue lusa, which translates into English as 'dark water or 'smoky water'. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans–Metairie–Hammond combined statistical area. In the 2020 census the city reported a population of 10,659. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States.
