Bossier Parish, Louisiana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bossier Parish, Louisiana
Map
Location in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1843
Seat	Benton
Largest city	Bossier City
Area - Total - Land - Water	867 sq mi (2,245 km²) 839 sq mi (2,174 km²) 28 sq mi (72 km²), 3.19%
Population - (2000) - Density	98,310 117/sq mi (45/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Named for: US Representative Pierre Bossier

Bossier Parish (French: Paroisse de Bossier) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Benton. As of 2000, the population was 98,310. The principal city is Bossier City, which is located east of the Red River from Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish.

The parish is part of the Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Bossier is one of the more Republican parishes in the state. When Democrats win in Bossier Parish, they tend to win nearly everywhere else in the state as well.

Bossier Parish is named for Pierre Bossier, a 19th-century Louisiana state senator and U.S. representative from Natchitoches Parish.

1 Bossier Parish Police Jury
2 Geography
- 2.1 Major highways
- 2.2 Adjacent parishes
3 Demographics
4 Communities
- 4.1 Cities and towns
- 4.2 Census-designated places
5 Education
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Bossier Parish Police Jury

Bossier Parish is governed by a 12-member elected body, the Bossier Parish Police Jury (equivalent to county commission in other states). Eddy Shell, a prominent Bossier City educator, served on the police jury from 1992 until his death in 2008. Here is the current makeup of the police jury:

District 1 - Hank Meachum
District 2 - Glenn Benton
District 3 - Wanda Bennett
District 4 - Winfred R. Johnston
District 5 - Barry Butler
District 6 - Rick Avery
District 7 - Jimmy Cochran
District 8 - J. Brad Cummings
District 9 - William R. Altimus
District 10 - Jerome Darby
District 11 - Wayne Hammack
District 12 - Paul M. "Mac" Plummer^[1]

[edit] Geography

The parish has a total area of 867 square miles (2,245 km²), of which, 839 square miles (2,174 km²) of it is land and 28 square miles (72 km²) of it (3.19%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Adjacent parishes

[edit] Demographics

Map of Bossier Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels


Census	Pop.		%±
1900	24,153		—
1910	21,738		−10%
1920	22,266		2.4%
1930	28,388		27.5%
1940	33,162		16.8%
1950	40,139		21%
1960	57,622		43.6%
1970	64,519		12%
1980	80,721		25.1%
1990	86,088		6.6%
2000	98,310		14.2%
Est. 2006	107,270	^[2]	9.1%
Bossier Parish Census Data^[3]

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 98,310 people, 36,628 households, and 26,628 families residing in the parish. The population density was 117 people per square mile (45/km²). There were 40,286 housing units at an average density of 48 per square mile (19/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 74.66% White, 20.82% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 1.26% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.00% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. 3.12% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 36,628 households out of which 36.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.60% were married couples living together, 14.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 22.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the parish the population was spread out with 28.00% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from 45 to 64, and 10.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $39,203, and the median income for a family was $45,542. Males had a median income of $32,305 versus $23,287 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $18,119. About 10.60% of families and 13.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.00% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over.