St. James Parish, Louisiana

Infobox U.S. County
county = Saint James Parish
state = Louisiana




founded year = 1807
founded date = March 31
seat wl = Convent
largest city wl = Lutcher
area_total_sq_mi = 258
area_total_km2 = 668
area_land_sq_mi = 246
area_land_km2 = 637
area_water_sq_mi = 12
area_water_km2 = 30
area percentage = 4.52%
census yr = 2000
pop = 21216
density_sq_mi = 86
density_km2 = 33
time zone = Central
UTC offset = -6
DST offset = -5
footnotes =
web = www.stjamesla.com
named for = Saint James

St. James Parish ( _fr. Paroisse de Saint-Jacques) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Convent. As of 2000, its population was 21,216.

History

St. James is one of the state's nineteen original parishes, created by act of the territorial legislature, March 31, 1807. The original seat of government was the community of St. James, on the west bank of the Mississippi, but this was moved in 1869 to what is now Convent, on the east bank.

St. James is part of the German Coast.

St. James is the only cultivation site in the world for Perique tobacco, introduced by an Acadian exile, Pierre Chenet, whose nickname was "Perique." It has been produced by his descendants for nearly two centuries (now covering only a 300 acre (1.2 km²) tract) and is in great demand by large tobacco companies.

Geography

The parish has a total area of 258 square miles (668 km²), of which, 246 square miles (637 km²) of it is land and 12 square miles (30 km²) of it (4.52%) is water.

Major highways

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Adjacent parishes

*Ascension Parish (north)
*St. John the Baptist Parish (east)
*Lafourche Parish (south)
*Assumption Parish (west)

Demographics

USCensusPop
title=
1790=
1800=
1810=
1820=
1830=
1840=
1850=
1860=
1870=
1880=
1890=
1900= 20197
1910= 23009
1920= 21228
1930= 15338
1940= 16596
1950= 15334
1960= 18369
1970= 19733
1980= 21495
1990= 20879
2000= 21216
estimate= 21721
estyear= 2006
estref= [cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22093.html|title=St. James Parish Quickfacts|author=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=2008-02-02]
footnote=St. James Parish Census Data [cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/la190090.txt|title=Louisiana Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|author=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=2008-02-02] As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 21,216 people, 6,992 households, and 5,551 families residing in the parish. The population density was 86 people per square mile (33/km²). There were 7,605 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 49.99% White, 49.38% Black, 0.09% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.37% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 93.78% of the population spoke only English at home, while 4.97% spoke French or Cajun French [http://www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?map_data_results] .

There were 6,992 households out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 19.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.60% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.43.

In the parish the population was spread out with 29.50% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.40 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $35,277, and the median income for a family was $41,751. Males had a median income of $37,487 versus $21,712 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,381. 20.70% of the population and 18.00% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 27.70% are under the age of 18 and 15.10% are 65 or older.

Cities and towns

Education

St. James Parish Public Schools serves all of St. James Parish.

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.stjamesla.com/ St. James Parish government's website]
* [http://www.stjameswildcats.com/ St. James High School Wildcats]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/louisiana/ Explore the History and Culture of Southeastern Louisiana, a National Park Service "Discover Our Shared Heritage" Travel Itinerary]