Richland Parish, Louisiana

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Richland Parish, Louisiana
Map
Location in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	September 29, 1868
Seat	Rayville
Largest city	Rayville
Area - Total - Land - Water	565 sq mi (1,462 km²) 558 sq mi (1,446 km²) 6 sq mi (16 km²), 1.07%
Population - (2000) - Density	20,981 38/sq mi (15/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Named for: Rich fertile land

Richland Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Rayville and As of 2000, the population was 20,981.

Richland Parish is home to the first parish-wide public library in the State of Louisiana. The library was built in 1925. The Lambda Kappa Club of Rayville established the library. R.R. Rhymes donated the original building in memory of his wife, Nonnie Roark Rhymes. In 2008, Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Bibb Ingram, a grandaughter to Nonnie Rhymes, as a member of the Louisiana State Library Board.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Major highways
- 1.2 Adjacent parishes
2 Demographics
3 Cities and towns
4 Notable natives and residents
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Geography

The parish has a total area of 565 square miles (1,462 km²), of which, 558 square miles (1,446 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (16 km²) of it (1.07%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Adjacent parishes

Morehouse Parish (north)
West Carroll Parish & East Carroll Parish (northeast)
Madison Parish (east)
Franklin Parish (southeast)
Caldwell Parish (southwest)
Ouachita Parish (west)

[edit] Demographics


Census	Pop.		%±
1900	11,116		—
1910	15,769		41.9%
1920	20,860		32.299%
1930	26,374		26.4%
1940	28,829		9.3%
1950	26,672		−7.5%
1960	23,824		−10.7%
1970	21,774		−8.6%
1980	22,187		1.9%
1990	20,629		−7%
2000	20,981		1.7%
Est. 2006	20,554	^[1]	−2%
Richland Parish Census Data^[2]

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 20,981 people, 7,490 households, and 5,482 families residing in the parish. The population density was 38 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 8,335 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 60.96% White, 38.01% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.20% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. 1.08% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,490 households out of which 34.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.20% were married couples living together, 18.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.80% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the parish the population was spread out with 27.30% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.30 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $23,668, and the median income for a family was $29,075. Males had a median income of $28,471 versus $18,587 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $12,479. About 23.10% of families and 27.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.50% of those under age 18 and 20.90% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Cities and towns

Map of Richland Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

[edit] Notable natives and residents

Richland Parish is the birthplace of country superstar Tim McGraw and the actor Earl Holliman, both of whom were born in Delhi. McGraw grew up in Start, Louisiana, and has a street named for him there.

Elvin Hayes was born in Richland Parish on 11/17/45 in Rayville, LA. An All-Star for each of his first 12 seasons, he scored more points (27,313) than any other player in NBA history except for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Moses Malone. He also ranks fourth on the league's all-time rebounding list with 16,279 boards. In 1990 he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ernie Ladd, also known as "The Big Cat", was born in Rayville on November 28, 1938. Ladd played for both the San Diego Chargers, and later became a professional wrestler, eventurally becoming inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995. Ladd died on March 10, 2007, having battled cancer since 2004.

Richland Parish is also the home of real estate developer Francis C. Thompson, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1975 until 2008. A Democrat, Thompson was elected to the Louisiana State Senate Louisiana State Senate in the general election held in 2008. Bubba Chaney, a Democrat from Rayville, was elected to replace Francis Thompson in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

One of the most successful high school football coaches in northeastern Louisiana was the late Keith Owen "Moose" Munyan, Sr., who coached the Mangham High School team from 1963-1989. Then-mayor Frellsen Reese proclaimed "Coach Munyan Day" on October 13, 1989.

Keith Munyan, Jr., the son of Coach Munyan and the former Lucille Carter, is a commercial photographer in North Hollywood, whose client list includes Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Cindy Crawford, Carmen Electra, and Rachel Melvin.