Union Parish, Louisiana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Union Parish, Louisiana
|
|
|---|---|
| Parish of Union | |
Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville
|
|
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
|
|
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
|
|
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Louisiana |
| Region | North Louisiana |
| Founded | March 13, 1839 |
| Named for | Union of American states |
| Parish seat (and largest town) | Farmerville |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2,340 km2 (905 sq mi) |
| • Land | 2,270 km2 (877 sq mi) |
| • Water | 70 km2 (28 sq mi) |
| • percentage | 7.9 km2 (3.06 sq mi) |
| Population
(2010)
|
|
| • Total | 22,721 |
| • Estimate
(2018)
|
22,330 |
| • Density | 9.694/km2 (25.106/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code | 318 |
| Congressional district | 4th |
Union Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Union) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,721. The parish seat is Farmerville. The parish was created on March 13, 1839, from a section of Ouachita Parish. Its boundaries have changed four times since then (in 1845, 1846, 1867, and 1873, respectively).
Union Parish is part of the Monroe, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Contents
Union Parish/Union County monument
In 1931, a monument was erected at the Union Parish border with Union County, Arkansas, through the private efforts of former Arkansas Governor George Washington Donaghey (1856–1937). He was born in Union Parish and grew up in the border area before moving with his family as a teenager to Conway, Arkansas. As governor of Arkansas, Donaghey oversaw the construction of the state capitol building in Little Rock and implemented founding of the state health unit and its agricultural colleges.
Long having felt a kinship to both states, after his gubernatorial tenure Donaghey commissioned a park on the border land and a monument. The monument is known for its intricate carvings and Art Deco style. It includes references to different modes of transportation in 1831 and 1931 and mentions Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long, Jr., whose educational program Donaghey admired. The land was not registered with the state parks offices in either state, timber companies cut trees thereabouts, and the monument was forgotten. In 1975, State Representative Louise B. Johnson gained passage of a law to refurbish the monument. A completed restoration was unveiled in 2009.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 905 square miles (2,340 km2), of which 877 square miles (2,270 km2) is land and 28 square miles (73 km2) (3.1%) is water.
Geographically north central Louisiana and more closely resembles Lincoln Parish, to which Union is deeply tied culturally, politically, and educationally. The Piney Hills Country is very different from the flat, hardwood delta lands of northeastern Louisiana.
Major highways
U.S. Highway 63
U.S. Highway 167
Louisiana Highway 2
Louisiana Highway 15
Louisiana Highway 33
Adjacent parishes and counties
- Union County, Arkansas (northwest)
- Ashley County, Arkansas (northeast)
- Morehouse Parish (east)
- Ouachita Parish (southeast)
- Lincoln Parish (southwest)
- Claiborne Parish (west)
Union Parish in Louisiana and Union County in Arkansas are two of twenty-two counties or parishes in the United States with the same name to border each other across state lines. The others are Big Horn County, Montana and Big Horn County, Wyoming, Sabine County, Texas and Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Bristol County, Massachusetts and Bristol County, Rhode Island, Kent County, Maryland and Kent County, Delaware, Escambia County, Alabama and Escambia County, Florida, Pike County, Illinois and Pike County, Missouri, Teton County, Idaho and Teton County, Wyoming, Park County, Montana and Park County, Wyoming, San Juan County, New Mexico and San Juan County, Utah, and Vermilion County, Illinois and Vermillion County, Indiana. respectively. (Note, despite the different spellings, the source of the name is the same for Vermilion County, Illinois and Vermillion County, Indiana—the Vermillion River which flows through both counties.)
National protected areas
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1840 | 1,838 | — | |
| 1850 | 8,203 | 346.3% | |
| 1860 | 10,389 | 26.6% | |
| 1870 | 11,685 | 12.5% | |
| 1880 | 13,526 | 15.8% | |
| 1890 | 17,304 | 27.9% | |
| 1900 | 18,520 | 7.0% | |
| 1910 | 20,451 | 10.4% | |
| 1920 | 19,621 | −4.1% | |
| 1930 | 20,731 | 5.7% | |
| 1940 | 20,943 | 1.0% | |
| 1950 | 19,141 | −8.6% | |
| 1960 | 17,624 | −7.9% | |
| 1970 | 18,447 | 4.7% | |
| 1980 | 21,167 | 14.7% | |
| 1990 | 20,690 | −2.3% | |
| 2000 | 22,803 | 10.2% | |
| 2010 | 22,721 | −0.4% | |
| 2018 (est.) | 22,330 | −1.7% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013 |
|||
2020 census
| Race | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 14,289 | 67.7% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 4,980 | 23.59% |
| Native American | 59 | 0.28% |
| Asian | 38 | 0.18% |
| Pacific Islander | 6 | 0.03% |
| Other/Mixed | 600 | 2.84% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,135 | 5.38% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 21,107 people, 7,582 households, and 4,899 families residing in the parish.
Communities
Towns
- Bernice
- Farmerville (parish seat)
- Marion
Villages
Unincorporated communities
- Alabama Landing
- Point
- Shiloh
Education
Residents are assigned to Union Parish Public Schools.
Notable people
Two Louisiana governors came from the Shiloh Community in Union Parish:
- William Wright Heard, 1900–1904
- Ruffin Pleasant, 1916-1920
Two Arkansas governors were natives of Union Parish:
- George Washington Donaghey, Governor of Arkansas from 1909 to 1913
- Tom Jefferson Terral, Governor of Arkansas from 1925 to 1927
Other Union Parish residents have included:
- Lonnie O. Aulds (1925-1984), state representative from 1968 to 1972 from Shreveport, real estate developer, born in Union Parish
- George Washington Bolton (1841-1931), state representative from 1888 to 1896 from Alexandria; Speaker of the House from 1892 to 1896; businessman, banker, school board member, Southern Baptist layman in Alexandria, lived and educated in Union Parish in his father's private school prior to the American Civil War
- Harvey Fields, state senator from 1916 to 1920, member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from 1927 to 1936, briefly a law partner of Huey Pierce Long, Jr., in Shreveport. His son, T. T. Fields, served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1952 to 1964 and 1968 to 1972.
- Jay McCallum - Chief Judge of the Louisiana 3rd Judicial District Court (elected in 2003); ran unopposed in 2014 for a term ending in 2020; state representative for Lincoln and Union parishes, 1992–2003; formerly practiced law in Farmerville after graduating from Louisiana State University School of Law in 1985
- B. R. Patton (1920-1999), state senator for Lincoln and Union parishes, 1956 to 1964; worked on the establishment of Lake D'Arbonne at Farmerville
- Robert Roberts, Jr., born in Union Parish in 1872, mayor of Farmerville c. 1900, mayor of Minden 1905–1906, state representative for Webster Parish 1908–1914, and state district judge 1920 to 1925
- James Peyton Smith (1925-2006), born in the Conway Community in Union Parish; state representative from Union and Morehouse parishes from 1964 to 1972; namesake of Louisiana Highway 33 bridge over Lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville
- Lee Emmett Thomas, born in Marion in Union Parish, and educated as a child in the Shiloh Community at the former Concord Institute. He was mayor of Shreveport (1922–1930) and Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representative (1912–1916). Thomas also served by appointment in both the Heard and Pleasant administrations.
See also
In Spanish: Parroquia de Union para niños
