Montgomery, Louisiana

Coordinates: 31°39′58″N 92°53′12″W / 31.66611°N 92.88667°W / 31.66611; -92.88667

Town of Montgomery
Town
U.S. Post Office in Montgomery, Louisiana
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Grant
Elevation	154 ft (46.9 m)
Coordinates	31°39′58″N 92°53′12″W / 31.66611°N 92.88667°W / 31.66611; -92.88667
Area	2.1 sq mi (5.4 km2)
- land	2.1 sq mi (5 km2)
- water	0.0 sq mi (0 km2), 0%
Population	787 (2000)
Density	379.0 / sq mi (146.3 / km2)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	71454
Area code	318
Location of Montgomery in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States

Downtown section of Montgomery facing east

Northside Baptist Church, now in new facilities off U.S. Highway 71 in Montgomery

First Baptist Church in Montgomery

Nearby Hargis Baptist Church and Cemetery (in background) east of Montgomery

First United Methodist Church in Montgomery

The VFW post is named for James D. Boston, Jr. (1916-1986), a World War II prisoner of war and later a history teacher at Montgomery High School.

Montgomery High School

Montgomery High School graduation exercises, May 14, 2011; valedictorian Levi Borders, salutatorian Kadee Teddlie

The Bank of Montgomery, founded 1903, also operates in Natchitoches.

A former railroad depot serves as the community center in Montgomery Town Park.

Montgomery Hardware and Feed Store has operated for decades in the Grant Parish community.

Montgomery is a town in Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. Founded in 1712, even before New Orleans, Montgomery is situated on U.S. Highway 71 in the northwesternmost section of Grant Parish close to the boundary of Natchitoches and Winn parishes. It is located east of the Red River.

In the 1950s, Montgomery was known as one of the smaller communities in the state which could draw considerable crowds to political gatherings. William J. "Bill" Dodd, veteran Louisiana politician, in his memoirs Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics, recalls a 1955 gathering in which he "eulogized" Huey Long, Earl Long, and attorney general candidate Jack P.F. Gremillion. Dodd satirized Gremillion's World War II record: "Why he almost got killed himself when an enemy shell plowed into one of his most vital organs; if you don't believe Jack Gremillion earned his Purple Heart, he will show you the scars he has to prove it." The scars were on Gremillion's rear end, much to the embarrassment of the successful candidate. From Montgomery, the Long train headed to the parish seat of Colfax.^[1]

Geography

Montgomery is located at 31°39′58″N 92°53′12″W / 31.66611°N 92.88667°W / 31.66611; -92.88667 (31.666001, -92.886539)^[2] and has an elevation of 154 feet (46.9 m)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 787 people, 332 households, and 210 families residing in the town. The population density was 379.0 people per square mile (146.1/km²). There were 395 housing units at an average density of 190.2 per square mile (73.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 77.00% White, 20.33% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.13% from other races, and 2.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.

There were 332 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.9% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. Nearly 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37, and the average family size was 3.03.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $18,462, and the median income for a family was $23,558. Males had a median income of $28,125 versus $17,083 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,533. About 34.0% of families and 39.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.8% of those under age 18 and 32.3% of those age 65 or over.

Community life

Montgomery-area churches include St. Patrick's Catholic Church, First Baptist, Northside Baptist, and Hargis Baptist, all Southern Baptist in affiliation, a United Methodist Church, and a Pentecostal congregation. Northside was located on the main highway during the 1990s. The church building burned and was thereafter rebuilt on the same site. Hargis Church is located in the Hargis community east of Montgomery.

Montgomery High School, operated by the Grant Parish School Board, is located adjacent to the Northside Baptist Church.

Notable people

• A. Leonard Allen, late U.S. representative, once taught school in the Verda community east of Montgomery.

• Mary Dell Smith Fletcher (June 16, 1923—April 21, 2009) was a Grant Parish educator and civic leader from Montgomery. She was born in the Verda community to Littleton Mapp Smith and the former Jennie Woods. A 20-year professor of English, she was also a retired chairman of the Graduate Studies Division at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. She procured her bachelor's and master's degree from NSU and her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She edited several collections of works in her speciality – the literature of the American South. In 1970, she served as president of the College Writers Society of Louisiana. Prior to her NSU career, Fletcher taught for five years at the former Colfax High School. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery, the Louisiana Pecan Festival, the Grant Parish Arts Council, and the Grant Parish Historical Society. She served for almost twenty-five years on the Grant Parish Library Board, including a stint as chairman. The widow of William P. "Will" Fletcher (1917–1999), a retired United States Army colonel and a former Grant Parish deputy sheriff, she was survived by a daughter, Janet F. Dyson of Baton Rouge, two grandsons, three great-grandchildren, and her brother, Maurice Smith, a former Montgomery High School principal and Grant Parish school superintendent. She is interred at Hargis Cemetery near Verda.^[5]

• Stephen L. "Steve" Gunn, former mayor and former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives

• Lula Wardlow, a Methodist minister and denominational leader, served as mayor from 1926–1930; great-aunt of Steve Gunn. She was the first woman to have served as mayor of a Louisiana community—only six years after ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

• Controversial child pageant star Makenzie, who made waves on TLC's Toddlers and Tiaras, is a resident. She is known for her bawdy sense of humor and for sucking on her "NiNi", her pacifier. She is 5 years old.

References

1. ^ William J. "Bill" Dodd, Peapatch Politics:The Ear Long Era in Louisiana Politics, Claitor's Publishing, 1991, p. 179
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
3. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
4. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
5. ^ "Obituary of Mary Dell Smith Fletcher". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090424/OBITUARIES/90423024. Retrieved April 25, 2009. ^{[dead link]}