Montgomery, Louisiana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Montgomery, Louisiana
Town
Town of Montgomery
U.S. Post Office in Montgomery, Louisiana
Location of Montgomery in Grant Parish, Louisiana.
Location of Louisiana in the United States
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Grant
Area
• Total	2.07 sq mi (5.36 km2)
• Land	2.07 sq mi (5.35 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.01 km2)
Elevation	154 ft (47 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	622
• Rank	GR: 2nd
• Density	301.06/sq mi (116.23/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	71454
Area code(s)	318
FIPS code	22-51620

Montgomery is a town in the far northwestern portion of Grant Parish, which is located in north-central Louisiana, United States. The population of Montgomery was 726 at the 2010 census. The town has a poverty rate of 37 percent and a median household income of just under $22,000. The median age is just under forty; the population in 2010 was 78 percent white.

Montgomery is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area though it is forty miles north of Alexandria. Founded in 1712, even before New Orleans, Montgomery is situated on U.S. Route 71, close to the boundary with Natchitoches and Winn parishes. It is located on the eastern bank of the Red River.

Downtown Montgomery facing east

Montgomery High School

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.

First United Methodist Church in Montgomery

First Baptist Church, 739 Old Jefferson Highway, lost its oldest member in 2013; Ilda Bishop Cardozier, the long-term president of the Women's Missionary Union, died at the age of ninety-eight.

Established in 1904, the Southern Baptist-affiliated Hargis Baptist Church has worshipped in this building since 1978. Located east of Montgomery, Hargis also has a church cemetery; pastor Dr. Marvin Jones (2015).

Northside Baptist Church (founded 1958) now worships in this facility at 330 Bienville Street in Montgomery just off U.S. Highway 71; pastor Kevin Billiot (2011).

1950s political tale

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.

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) and has an elevation of 154 feet (46.9 m).

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

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 622 people, 261 households, and 114 families residing in the town.

Community life

Montgomery-area churches include First Baptist, Northside Baptist, and Hargis Baptist, all Southern Baptist in affiliation, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, St. Luke A.M.E. ( African Methodist Episcopal) Church, St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, a United Methodist Church, and a Pentecostal congregation. Northside was located on the main highway during the 1990s. The new church building burned and was rebuilt on the same site at 330 Bienville Street. Hargis Church is located in the Hargis community east of Montgomery.

The Reverend Kevin Billiot is both the pastor of Northside Church and the part-time police chief in Montgomery, for which he earns $20,000 a year. Police officers make $7.50 an hour. "When I arrived here as police chief in April (2011), we didn't have uniforms. We didn't even have badges. We had two badges we shared among ourselves" and wore polo shirts with embroidered badges, Billiot explained."

Current Montgomery Mayor Vera "Susie" Waters, who is paid $265 per month, but also works as office manager for two pharmacies, said that small-town finances "aren't in good shape right now. Any kind of equipment we purchase, we rely strictly on grants. When we can get a donation of equipment it's just a wonderful thing."

Notable people

• A. Leonard Allen, late U.S. representative, once taught school in the Verda community east of Montgomery.
• Jesse C. Deen, state representative from 1972 to 1988, lived in Hargis and went to Montgomery High SChool.