Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Avoyelles Parish
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| Parish of Avoyelles | ||
Texas and Pacific Railroad Depot (Bunkie, Louisiana)
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Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
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 Louisiana's location within the U.S. |
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| Country |  United States |
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| State |  Louisiana |
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| Founded | March 31, 1807 | |
| Named for | Avoyel Native Americans | |
| Seat | Marksville | |
| Largest city | Marksville | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 866 sq mi (2,240 km2) | |
| • Land | 832 sq mi (2,150 km2) | |
| • Water | 33 sq mi (90 km2) 3.8% | |
| Population
(2010)
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| • Total | 42,073 | |
| • Estimate
(2018)
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40,462 | |
| • Density | 48.583/sq mi (18.758/km2) | |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) | |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) | |
| Congressional district | 5th | |
Avoyelles (French: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,073. The parish seat is Marksville. The parish was created in 1807, with the name deriving from the French name for the historic Avoyel people, one of the local Indian tribes at the time of European encounter.
Today the parish is the base of the federally recognized Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, who have a reservation there. The tribe has a land-based gambling casino on their reservation. It is located in Marksville, the parish seat, which is partly within reservation land.
Contents
History
Avoyelles Parish is known for its French-speaking history, with Creole traditions in both music and food, which reflect European, African and Native American influences. While having a distinctive history of immigrants directly from Europe, it is considered the most northern of the 22 "Acadiana"/Creole parishes,(with the parishes to the south settled by exiles from Acadia). They contributed strongly to the development of culture in this area, as did Africans and Native Americans. The parish is noted for its brand of Cajun/Creole Style music and its gumbo, a popular soup in this area with roots in the three major ethnicities noted above.
The area was first settled by Native Americans around 300 BC. Varying indigenous cultures flourished there in the following centuries. Today on the banks of the old Mississippi River channel in Marksville, three large burial mounds have been preserved from the Mississippian culture. A museum and a National Park commemorate this early culture. The Tunica people, with bands extending into the central Mississippi Valley at one time, absorbed the remnant Avoyels nearly two centuries ago. They intermarried with the more numerous Biloxi people. Together, they were federally recognized in 1981 and are known as the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe. They are the largest Native American group in Avoyelles Parish. Descendants of other smaller tribes are also enrolled in this tribe.
Records from the Catholic Churches in both Mansura and Marksville document the establishment of a Trading Post and a Catholic School by the French to bring Christianity to the Tunica Tribe. This trading post was located until the mid-1960s near the Tunica Reservation (next to a Native American run Casino). The settlement was called Hydropolis, meaning water city. There is a historic road side markers on LA 1 showing where the Catholic School was located. The central part of Avoyelles Parish sits on a large plateau, which prior to the Great Flood of 1927 and the construction of levees by the Army Corps of Engineers was frequently surrounded by water. The placement of the trading post was to allow French settlers an opportunity to hunt and trade for furs and animal skins with the Tunica Indians. The major mode of transportation was by Indian canoes and pirogues (French dug out canoe). Detailed church records show settlers arriving in Avoyelles with a list of their family members, possessions and even in some cases names of slaves. Church records and documentation go from being recorded in French during the first French period, to Spanish during the Spanish Period, and then back to French when France reacquired Louisiana. Sometime after Louisiana was sold to Thomas Jefferson and the United States, the documents began to be recorded in English.
When Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States, The United States sent expeditions to survey the Louisiana Territory. These French soldiers, surveyors and doctors eventually settled in the area.
The French people that settled Avoyelles immigrated from France via New Orleans, which is evidenced by the fact that many of the French words commonly used today date back to terms used during the Napoleon period in France, i.e. they are no longer used in modern French. The Spanish influence in Louisiana was much more dominant in New Iberia — this was named after the Iberian Peninsula, commonly known as Spain and Portugal. There are no Spanish surnames in Avoyelles. A few families from French Canada (Quebec) arrived in Avoyelles. They were from a different geographic area of Canada than the Acadians of present-day Nova Scotia who were expelled by the British from their homeland (Acadie) beginning in 1755. Many deported Acadians eventually made it to Louisiana from 1764 - 1788 after several years of living in exile along the eastern Atlantic seaboard, Canada, St. Pierre and France.
Immigrants from Scotland, Belgium, Italy, and Germany in the nineteenth century also settled here, following the French Creoles and together established today's towns and villages. Their direct ties to Europe set them apart from the Acadians (Cajuns) of southern Louisiana. At the turn of the 19th century, free people of color of African-French descent settled in Avoyelles. They included refugees from Haiti and the French West Indies, and others. The blending of these three cultures: Native American, European and African, created a distinct Louisiana Creole culture noted in the local language, food, Catholic religion, and family ties. Most French families of the parish today are pure French Creoles.
Today, the Avoyelles Parish culture is classified as "Cajun" because of the perceived similarities in speech, food, and various folk traditions with southern parishes. But, few families in Avoyelles are of Acadian descent. In the 1800s until the mid 1900s, local Confederate units and local newspaper reports in The Villager always referred to the Avoyelles French families as Creoles, the term then for native-born people of French descent.
In 1906, V.L. Roy served as education superintendent in both Avoyelles and Lafayette parishes. In 1908, he helped with the founding of the Corn Club, later known as the Louisiana 4-H Club.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 866 square miles (2,240 km2), of which 832 square miles (2,150 km2) is land and 33 square miles (85 km2) (3.8%) is water.
Major highways
Interstate 49
U.S. Highway 71
Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 29
Louisiana Highway 107
Louisiana Highway 2
Adjacent parishes
- La Salle Parish (north)
- Catahoula Parish (north)
- Concordia Parish (northeast)
- West Feliciana Parish (east)
- Pointe Coupee Parish (southeast)
- St. Landry Parish (south)
- Evangeline Parish (southwest)
- Rapides Parish (west)
National protected areas
- Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge (part)
- Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1810 | 1,209 | — | |
| 1820 | 2,245 | 85.7% | |
| 1830 | 3,484 | 55.2% | |
| 1840 | 6,616 | 89.9% | |
| 1850 | 9,326 | 41.0% | |
| 1860 | 13,167 | 41.2% | |
| 1870 | 12,926 | −1.8% | |
| 1880 | 16,747 | 29.6% | |
| 1890 | 25,112 | 49.9% | |
| 1900 | 29,701 | 18.3% | |
| 1910 | 34,102 | 14.8% | |
| 1920 | 35,300 | 3.5% | |
| 1930 | 34,926 | −1.1% | |
| 1940 | 39,256 | 12.4% | |
| 1950 | 38,031 | −3.1% | |
| 1960 | 37,606 | −1.1% | |
| 1970 | 37,751 | 0.4% | |
| 1980 | 41,393 | 9.6% | |
| 1990 | 39,159 | −5.4% | |
| 2000 | 41,481 | 5.9% | |
| 2010 | 42,073 | 1.4% | |
| 2018 (est.) | 40,432 | −3.9% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2013 |
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2020 census
| Race | Number | Percentage |
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| White (non-Hispanic) | 25,236 | 63.58% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 10,649 | 26.83% |
| Native American | 349 | 0.88% |
| Asian | 345 | 0.87% |
| Pacific Islander | 3 | 0.01% |
| Other/Mixed | 1,626 | 4.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,485 | 3.74% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 39,693 people, 15,163 households, and 9,840 families residing in the parish.
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 42,073 people living in the parish. 67.0% were White, 29.5% Black or African American, 1.2% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.4% of some other race and 1.6% of two or more races. 1.4% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 34.6% were of French, French Canadian or Cajun and 11.3% American ancestry.
National Guard
The 1020th Engineer Company (Vertical) of the 527th Engineer Battalion of the 225th Engineer Brigade is located in Marksville, Louisiana. The 1086TH Transportation Company of the 165TH CSS (Combat Service Support) Battalion of the 139TH RSG (Regional Support Group) resides in Bunkie, Louisiana.
Communities
Cities
- Bunkie
- Marksville (parish seat)
Towns
Villages
Census-designated places
Education
All primary public schools are run by the Avoyelles Parish School Board. It operates 10 schools with an enrollment over 6,000 students. The school board website is http://www.avoyellespsb.com/.
Elementary
- Cottonport Elementary
- Bunkie Elementary
- Lafargue Elementary
- Marksville Elementary
- Plaucheville Elementary
- Riverside Elementary
- Sacred Heart School, Moreauville
- St. Anthony of Padua School, Bunkie
- St. Joseph School, Plaucheville
- St. Mary of the Assumption School, Cottonport
High school
- Avoyelles High School (Moreauville)
- Avoyelles Public Charter School
- Bunkie High School
- LASAS (Louisiana School for the Agricultural Sciences)
- Marksville High School
- Red River Charter Academy
- St. Joseph's High School of Plaucheville
Notable people
Artists, authors and entertainers:
- Sue Eakin, historian, author of Avoyelles Parish: Crossroads of Louisiana
- Alcide "Blind Uncle" Gaspard, early recording artist of traditional Cajun music.
- Little Walter, Marion Walter Jacobs. musician and harmonica player, elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- Ruth McEnery Stuart, Marksville
Athletes:
- Mark Duper, Moreauville Miami Dolphins wide receiver
- Johnathin E. Lewis IV, born and raised in Mansura, college basketball player who currently plays for the Kansas City College Falcons in Overland Park, Kansas
Other:
- Felix Eugene Moncla Jr., United States Air Force pilot who disappeared over Lake Superior in 1953.
Political leaders:
- Bill Callegari, Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives from Harris County; engineer and businessman in Katy, Texas, born in Cottonport in 1941
- F.O. "Potch" Didier, sheriff of Avoyelles Parish, 1956–1980
- Edwin Washington Edwards, four-term governor of Louisiana.
- Elaine Schwartzenburg Edwards, first wife of Edwin Edwards and appointed as U.S. Senator, serving August–November 1972
- Harvey Fields, born in Avoyelles Parish, state senator for Union and Morehouse parishes from 1916 to 1920; member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from 1927 to 1936; former law partner and political ally of Huey Pierce Long Jr.
- Donald E. Hines, physician in Bunkie, politician and president of the Louisiana State Senate from 2004 to 2008
- Jeannette Theriot Knoll, associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, retired 2016, a resident of Marksville
- Jerold Edward "Eddie" Knoll, 32nd District Attorney of Avoyelles Parish, serving c.1977 to 2003
- Adras LaBorde, longtime managing editor and political columnist of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk
- Raymond Laborde, mayor of Marksville (1958–1970), state representative (1972–1992), commissioner of administration (1992–1996)
- Adolphe Lafargue, Marksville native, newspaper publisher, state legislator from 1892 to 1899, and judge from 1899 to 1917
- Alvan Lafargue, Marksville native, physician, and the mayor of Sulphur from 1926 to 1932
- Malcolm Lafargue, Marksville native, U.S. attorney in Shreveport in 1940s; unsuccessful Senate candidate in 1950 against Russell B. Long
- Tucker L. Melancon, Bunkie, Senior United States District Judge.
- Charles Addison Riddle III, District Attorney, 2003–current, former state representative, 1992–2003.
Images for kids
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Formation of the Atchafalaya River and construction of the Old River Control Structure.
See also
In Spanish: Parroquia de Avoyelles para niños
