Grant Parish, Louisiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grant Parish, Louisiana | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Louisiana |
|
 Louisiana's location in the U.S. |
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| Statistics | |
| Founded | 1869 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Colfax |
| Largest city | Colfax |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
665 sq mi (1,721 km²) 656 sq mi (1,671 km²) 19 sq mi (50 km²), 2.93% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
18,698 29/sq mi (11/km²) |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Named for: President Ulysses S. Grant | |
Grant Parish (French: Paroisse de Grant) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Colfax (pronounced COLL FAX). It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area and Red River valley. As of 2000, the population was 18,698. It was organized in 1869 during Reconstruction and named for U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. The parish seat is named for Grant's first vice president, Schuyler M. Colfax (pronounced COLE FAX) of Indiana.
Grant Parish had the highest growth rate in central Louisiana in the five-year period between 2001 and 2006, according to projections of the United States Census Bureau. The parish has had a 4.3 percent growth rate compared to 1.7 percent for its larger neighbor, Rapides Parish. Some neighboring parishes, including Winn, have experienced population decreases. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Geography
The parish has a total area of 665 square miles (1,721 km²), of which, 645 square miles (1,671 km²) of it is land and 19 square miles (50 km²) of it (2.93%) is water.
[edit] Major highways
U.S. Highway 71
U.S. Highway 165
U.S. Highway 167
Louisiana Highway 8
Louisiana Highway 34
Louisiana Highway 122
Louisiana Highway 123
Louisiana Highway 472
Louisiana Highway 500
[edit] Adjacent parishes
- Winn Parish (north)
- La Salle Parish (east)
- Rapides Parish (south)
- Natchitoches Parish (west)
[edit] Demographics
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 12,902 |
|
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| 1910 | 15,958 | 23.7% | |
| 1920 | 14,403 | −9.7% | |
| 1930 | 15,709 | 9.1% | |
| 1940 | 15,933 | 1.4% | |
| 1950 | 14,263 | −10.5% | |
| 1960 | 13,330 | −6.5% | |
| 1970 | 13,671 | 2.6% | |
| 1980 | 16,703 | 22.2% | |
| 1990 | 17,526 | 4.9% | |
| 2000 | 18,698 | 6.7% | |
| Est. 2006 | 19,879 | [2] | 6.3% |
| Grant Parish Census Data[3] | |||
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 18,698 people, 7,073 households, and 5,276 families residing in the parish. The population density was 29 people per square mile (11/km²). There were 8,531 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 85.43% White, 11.88% Black or African American, 0.89% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 1.14% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The decreases in population from 1910-1920, and from 1940-1960, were chiefly caused by different phases of the Great Migration, as African Americans left segregation and oppression of the South to seek better opportunities in the North, during the first phase, and in the West, especially California's defense industry, in the second phase. Tens of thousands of migrants left Louisiana during times of agricultural difficulties and the collapse of agricultural labor after mechanization.[5]
In 2000, there were 7,073 households out of which 36.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.20% were married couples living together, 12.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.40% were non-families. 22.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the parish the population was spread out with 28.30% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.00 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $29,622, and the median income for a family was $34,878. Males had a median income of $31,235 versus $20,470 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,410. About 16.90% of families and 21.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.30% of those under age 18 and 16.20% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Politics
In recent years, a majority of conservative whites in Grant Parish have favored Republican candidates in competitive statewide or regional elections. In the 2004 presidential race, the George W. Bush - Richard B. Cheney electors polled 5,911 votes (74 percent) in Grant Parish, compared to only 1,977 ballots (25 percent) for the Democratic John Kerry - John Edwards slate.
At the local level, however, the parish remains entrenched Democrat. In the November 17, 2007, general election, Sheriff Leonard R. "Pop" Hataway (born 1940), a 32-year incumbent first elected in 1975, was unseated by his fellow Dry Prong Democrat, Baxter Wayne Welch (born 1954), a former Louisiana state police officer. Welch received 57 percent of the vote to Hataway's 43 percent. [6]On February 6, 2008, Governor Bobby Jindal announced that he is appointing Hataway to the five-member Board of Pardons. The selection requires confirmation by the Louisiana State Senate.[7]
In a special election held on April 29, 2006, Billy Ray Chandler (born 1937), another Democrat from Dry Prong, won election to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He defeated the Republican candidate, Tony Kevin Owens (born 1960) of Jena, the seat of La Salle Parish. Chandler was subsequently handily elected to a full term in the jungle primary held on October 20, 2007.
From 1992-1996, Grant Parish was represented in the legislature by an Independent, Stephen Lee "Steve" Gunn, who has been the mayor of Montgomery since 2002.
[edit] Cities and towns
[edit] Notable natives and residents
- Caledonia Palestine Tyson Long (1860-1913), the mother of Governors Huey Pierce Long, Jr., and Earl Kemp Long, was born at Packton in Grant Parish in the vicinity of the Tyson Cemetery. [8]
- Charlton Lyons, a gubernatorial nominee in 1964 who is sometimes considered "the father of the modern Republican Party in Louisiana", was briefly a school prinicpal in Pollock in eastern Grant Parish.
- Joe D. Smith, Jr., who was the publisher of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk from 1962 until his retirement in 1996, was born in 1922 in the community of Selma located in northeastern Grant Parish just south of Georgetown.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Alexandria Daily Town Talk, December 20, 2006
- ^ United States Census Bureau. Grant Parish Quickfacts. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
- ^ United States Census Bureau. Louisiana Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "African American Migration Experience: The Second Great Migration", New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, accessed 24 Apr 2008
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State-Parish Elections Inquiry
- ^ The News Star - www.thenewsstar.com - Monroe, LA
- ^ Long Families of Corinith and Zion - Winn Parish, LA
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