Rapides Parish, Louisiana Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Rapides Parish, Louisiana

Parish

Parish of Rapides

Upper portion of the Rapides Parish Courthouse in Alexandria

Flag

Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana

Louisiana's location within the U.S.

Country

United States

State

Louisiana

Region

Central Louisiana

Founded

1807

Named for

The local river rapids

Parish seat (and largest city)

Alexandria

Area

• Total

3,530 km² (1,362 sq mi)

• Land

3,410 km² (1,318 sq mi)

• Water

110 km² (44 sq mi)

• percentage

8 km² (3.2 sq mi)

Population

(2010)

• Total

131,613

• Estimate

(2019)

129,648

• Density

37.310/km² (96.63/sq mi)

Time zone

UTC-6 (CST)

• Summer (DST)

UTC-5 (CDT)

Area code

318

Congressional district

5th

Lower view of the Rapides Parish Courthouse

The main branch of the Rapides Parish Library is located in downtown Alexandria.

Rapides Parish (French: Paroisse des Rapides) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,613. The parish seat is Alexandria, which developed along the Red River of the South. Rapides is the French word for "rapids". The parish was created in 1807 after the United States acquired this territory in the Louisiana Purchase.

Rapides Parish is included in the Alexandria metropolitan area, Louisiana.

History

Purple Heart Memorial Bridge over the Red River in Alexandria and Pineville

In 1763, the land that is now Rapides Parish became the new home of the Apalachee tribe, who were settled there with the permission of Governor Kerlerec. The Native Americans had come after fleeing the British and their Creek Indian allies from what is now from Leon County, Florida. Many of their descendants remain in Natchitoches Parish.

The first French settler was Vincent Porei, who was granted a small tract of land in July 1764 by the Civil and Military Commander of Natchitoches. Nicolas Etienne Marafret Layssard arrived in December 1766, with the permission of Aubrey and Foucault, to establish a "tar works" in the pineries of Rapides, for naval stores. He was later appointed the first Civil Commander of Rapides Parish. During the 1760s, the area was still a dependency of Natchitoches Parish [AGI, PPC, Legajo 187a, 384-384v].

Alexander Fulton had a Spanish land grant within Rapides Parish in the 1790s, where he laid out the future city of Alexandria in 1805. Rapides Parish was formed in 1807 by the government of the Territory of Orleans.

When the Union occupied Alexandria, elections were held on April 1, 1863, in Rapides Parish to select delegates for a pending state constitutional convention. According to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, the election was held at Alexandria "by the request of citizens of the parish of Rapides. No officer or soldier interfered with or had any part whatever in this matter. It was left exclusively to the loyal citizens" in Rapides Parish. The election dates varied within the Federally occupied areas. New Orleans held its contests for delegates on March 28. Marksville and Grand Ecore soon followed. According to the historian John D. Winters, "none of these elections in any way impeded the progress nor materially affected the outcome of the [Union's] Red River campaign.

Parts of Catahoula Parish, Grant Parish, Vernon Parish, and Winn Parish were initially part of Rapides Parish territory, but they eventually separated and obtained land from neighboring parishes.

Though Alexandria is heavily Democratic Rapides Parish as a whole frequently votes Republican in competitive elections. In 2012, Republican Mitt Romney carried the parish with 37,193 votes (64.1 percent), compared to Democrat U.S. President Barack Obama's 20,045 (34.6 percent) tabulation. The 2008 returns in Rapides Parish were similar to those of 2012. U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona won the parish with 36,611 votes (63.6 percent) to President Obama's 20,127 (35 percent).

With 58.8 percent and 63.8 percent, respectively, George W. Bush carried Rapides Parish in both 2000 and 2004 over the Democrats, Vice President Al Gore and John F. Kerry. The last Democrat to win at the presidential level in Rapides Parish was Bill Clinton, who in 1996 received 23,004 votes (46.1 percent) to Robert J. Dole's 21,548 (43.2 percent). Ross Perot, founder of his Reform Party, received 4,670 ballots (9.4 percent).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 1,362 square miles (3,530 km²), of which 1,318 square miles (3,410 km²) is land and 44 square miles (110 km²) (3.2%) is water. It is the second-largest parish in Louisiana by land area.

Water features

Catahoula Lake

Major highways

Interstate 49
U.S. Highway 71
U.S. Highway 165
U.S. Highway 167
Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 28

Adjacent parishes

Grant Parish (north)
La Salle Parish (northeast)
Avoyelles Parish (east)
Evangeline Parish (southeast)
Allen Parish (southwest)
Vernon Parish (west)
Natchitoches Parish (northwest)

National protected area

Kisatchie National Forest (part)

Military installations

Camp Beauregard (LA Army National Guard)
Esler Airfield (LA Army National Guard)
England Air Force Base (defunct)
Camp Claiborne (defunct)
Camp Livingston (defunct)

National Guard

225th Engineer Brigade

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	6,065	—
1830	7,575	24.9%
1840	14,132	86.6%
1850	16,561	17.2%
1860	25,360	53.1%
1870	18,015	−29.0%
1880	23,563	30.8%
1890	27,642	17.3%
1900	39,578	43.2%
1910	44,545	12.5%
1920	59,444	33.4%
1930	65,455	10.1%
1940	73,370	12.1%
1950	90,648	23.5%
1960	111,351	22.8%
1970	118,078	6.0%
1980	135,282	14.6%
1990	131,556	−2.8%
2000	126,337	−4.0%
2010	131,613	4.2%
2019 (est.)	129,648	−1.5%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2019

2020 census

Rapides Parish racial composition
Race	Number	Percentage
White (non-Hispanic)	76,323	58.7%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	40,261	30.96%
Native American	901	0.69%
Asian	1,805	1.39%
Pacific Islander	33	0.03%
Other/Mixed	5,610	4.31%
Hispanic or Latino	5,090	3.91%