Jackson Parish, Louisiana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jackson Parish
|
|
|---|---|
| Parish of Jackson | |
Jackson Parish Courthouse in Jonesboro
|
|
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
|
|
 Louisiana's location within the U.S. |
|
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Louisiana |
| Founded | 1845 |
| Named for | Andrew Jackson |
| Seat | Jonesboro |
| Largest town | Jonesboro |
| Area | |
| • Total | 580 sq mi (1,500 km2) |
| • Land | 569 sq mi (1,470 km2) |
| • Water | 11 sq mi (30 km2) 1.9% |
| Population
(2010)
|
|
| • Total | 16,274 |
| • Estimate
(2018)
|
15,902 |
| • Density | 28.06/sq mi (10.83/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 5th |
Jackson Parish (French: Paroisse de Jackson) is a parish in the northern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,274. The parish seat is Jonesboro. The parish was formed in 1845 from parts of Claiborne, Ouachita, and Union Parishes. In the twentieth century, this part of the state had several small industrial mill towns, such as Jonesboro.
East of Jonesboro is the Jimmie Davis State Park, which includes Caney Lake Reservoir.
Contents
History
Jackson Parish was founded in 1845 and named for President Andrew Jackson.
Civil War
During the American Civil War Confederate General Richard Taylor sent five companies into Jackson and Winn parishes to arrest conscripts who failed to report for duty and to halt jayhawker groups in the area. General Edmund Kirby-Smith, moreover, directed that "all men who shirked their military duty be hunted down and forced into camp. Those who tried to escape the conscript hunters would be shot. The terrain of Louisiana with its many canebrakes, swamps, and hills in which to hide, made such an order difficult to carry out," explains the historian John D. Winters in The Civil War in Louisiana (1963).
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 580 square miles (1,500 km2), of which 569 square miles (1,470 km2) is land and 11 square miles (28 km2) (1.9%) is water.
Major highways
U.S. Highway 167
Louisiana Highway 4
Louisiana Highway 34
Adjacent parishes
- Lincoln Parish (north)
- Ouachita Parish (northeast)
- Caldwell Parish (southeast)
- Winn Parish (south)
- Bienville Parish (west)
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1850 | 5,566 | — | |
| 1860 | 9,465 | 70.1% | |
| 1870 | 7,646 | −19.2% | |
| 1880 | 5,328 | −30.3% | |
| 1890 | 7,453 | 39.9% | |
| 1900 | 9,119 | 22.4% | |
| 1910 | 13,818 | 51.5% | |
| 1920 | 14,486 | 4.8% | |
| 1930 | 13,808 | −4.7% | |
| 1940 | 17,807 | 29.0% | |
| 1950 | 15,434 | −13.3% | |
| 1960 | 15,828 | 2.6% | |
| 1970 | 15,963 | 0.9% | |
| 1980 | 17,321 | 8.5% | |
| 1990 | 15,705 | −9.3% | |
| 2000 | 15,397 | −2.0% | |
| 2010 | 16,274 | 5.7% | |
| 2018 (est.) | 15,902 | −2.3% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2013 |
|||
2020 census
| Race | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 9,896 | 65.84% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 3,945 | 26.25% |
| Native American | 34 | 0.23% |
| Asian | 146 | 0.97% |
| Pacific Islander | 5 | 0.03% |
| Other/Mixed | 537 | 3.57% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 468 | 3.11% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 15,031 people, 5,971 households, and 4,015 families residing in the parish.
National Guard
A Company 199TH FSB (Forward Support Battalion) of the 256TH IBCT resides in Jonesboro, Louisiana. This unit has deployed twice to Iraq in 2004-5 and 2010. Also deployed in 1990 for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
Communities
Towns
Villages
Unincorporated community
Gallery
-
A portion of Caney Lake east of Jonesboro
-
The Jackson Parish Veterans Memorial is located across from the parish library in Jonesboro.
-
The Jackson Parish Museum and Fine Arts Association is located at 515 South Cooper Avenue in Jonesboro across from the First Baptist Church.
-
The Jackson Parish Library in Jonesboro
Education
Public schools in Jackson Parish are operated by the elected Jackson Parish School Board.
Notable people
- Rodney Alexander, Republican U.S. representative
- H. Welborn Ayres, judge of the Second Judicial District Court in Jonesboro, 1942–1953
- Robert C. Culpepper, Jackson Parish native, clerk of court from 1900 to 1908, state senator from 1908 to 1912, and judge in Alexandria from 1924 to 1942
- Marvin T. Culpepper, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Jackson Parish from 1964 to 1968
- Jimmie Davis, Democratic former governor and singer by profession, born in Jackson Parish in 1899.
- Randy Ewing, former Louisiana State Senate President and a 2003 Democratic gubernatorial contender.
- James R. Fannin, state representative from Jackson Parish since 2003
- E.L. "Bubba" Henry, former Democratic Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, served in the House from District 13 from 1968 to 1980, the last eight of those years as Speaker. Also served as chairman of the 1973 convention which drafted the Louisiana Constitution currently in effect, and as Commissioner of Administration under Governor Dave Treen from 1980 to 1984.
- Arnold R. Kilpatrick, former president of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches
- George T. Walker, president of the University of Louisiana at Monroe from 1958 to 1976, was born and reared in the Wyatt Community of Jackson Parish.
See also
In Spanish: Parroquia de Jackson para niños
