Ascension Parish, Louisiana

Infobox U.S. County
county = Ascension Parish
state = Louisiana


founded year = 1807
founded date =
seat wl = Donaldsonville
largest city wl = Gonzales
area_total_sq_mi = 303
area_total_km2 = 784
area_land_sq_mi = 292
area_land_km2 = 755
area_water_sq_mi = 11
area_water_km2 = 29
area percentage = 3.75
census yr = 2000
pop = 76627
density_sq_mi = 263
density_km2 = 101
time zone = Central
UTC offset = -6
DST offset = -5
footnotes =
web =
named for = Ascension of Our Lord Church in Donaldsonville

Ascension Parish (French: "Paroisse de l'Ascension") is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is one of the fastest growing parishes in the state. Its population is estimated to be 20,000 to 30,000 residents greater than the 2000 census. One of the major reasons for parish growth is the number of families wanting to move their children from the East Baton Rouge Parish public schools to the higher-performing Ascension public school system. For a time, Hurricane Katrina also brought in new residents from surrounding areas, but Ascension Parish President Ronnie Hughes said that the influx of hurricane victims has decreased and remains a small percent of growth.

Ascension Parish is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Baton Rouge–Pierre Part Combined Statistical Area.

Law and government

The parish is thought to be becoming politically conservative. Since 2000, nearly 14,000 new voters have registered in Ascension Parish, and fewer than 1,000 of those are Democrats.

Democrats still lead in registrants with 28,181; Republicans follow with 16,218. There are also 13,052 "No Party" registrants, as permitted under Louisiana law. Robert Poche, Ascension Parish voter registrar told the "Baton Rouge Morning Advocate" in 2007 that "History tells us that those with no party affiliation have been voting conservatively."

Ascension Parish also had a small number of voters registered as upper case Independents. There are thirty-one Libertarian Party members, and thirty-three Reform Party registrants. The total registrants in April 2007 stood at 58,221. [John McMillan, "Baton Rouge Advocate", River parishes bureau, Apr 29, 2007, Page: 1b]

Geography

The parish has a total area of 303 square miles (784 km²). 292 square miles (755 km²) of it is land and 11 square miles (29 km²) of it (3.75%) is water.

Major highways

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Adjacent parishes

*East Baton Rouge Parish (north)
*Livingston Parish (northeast)
*St. John the Baptist Parish (east)
*St. James Parish (southeast)
*Assumption Parish (southwest)
*Iberville Parish (west)

Demographics

USCensusPop
title=
1790=
1800=
1810=
1820=
1830=
1840=
1850=
1860=
1870=
1880=
1890=
1900= 24142
1910= 23887
1920= 22155
1930= 18438
1940= 21215
1950= 22387
1960= 27927
1970= 37086
1980= 50068
1990= 58214
2000= 76627
estimate= 97335
estyear= 2006
estref= [cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22005.html|title=Ascension Parish Quickfacts|author=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=2008-02-02]
footnote=Ascension 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 76,627 people, 26,691 households, and 20,792 families residing in the parish. The population density was 263 people per square mile (101/km²). There were 29,172 housing units at an average density of 100 per square mile (39/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 77.39% White, 20.28% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.99% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 2.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 94.46% of the population spoke only English at home, while 2.76% spoke French or Cajun French, and 2.41% spoke Spanish [http://www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?map_data_results] .

There were 26,691 households out of which 42.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were married couples living together, 13.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.10% were non-families. 18.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the parish the population was spread out with 30.10% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 32.60% from 25 to 44, 20.20% from 45 to 64, and 7.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 96.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.50 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $44,288, and the median income for a family was $50,626. Males had a median income of $41,109 versus $23,054 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $17,858. About 10.70% of families and 12.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.30% of those under age 18 and 15.40% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, towns, and villages

Incorporated

Education

Ascension Parish School Board operates local public schools.

National Guard

The 922nd Engineer Company (Horizontal), a unit of the 769th Engineer Battalion and the 225th Engineer Brigade.

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.ascensionparish.net/ Ascension Parish government's website]
* [http://www.ascensioncitizen.com/ Ascension Citizen newspaper]
* [http://www.myapl.org/ Ascension Parish Library]
* [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]