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Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
Lafayette Parish Courthouse
Lafayette Parish Courthouse
Map of Louisiana highlighting Lafayette Parish
Location in the state of Louisiana
Map of the U.S
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Founded January 17, 1823
Named for Marquis de la Fayette
Seat Lafayette
Largest city Lafayette
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

269 sq mi (697 km²)
269 sq mi (697 km²)
0.5 sq mi (1 km²), 0.2
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

241,753
Congressional district 3rd
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.lafayettetravel.com

Lafayette Parish (French: Paroisse de Lafayette) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 241,753,[1] up from 221,578 at the 2010 United States census.[2] The parish seat is the city of Lafayette.[3] The parish was founded in 1823.[4] Since 1992, Lafayette City and Lafayette Parish have operated as a consolidated government.

Etymology[]

The city and parish of Lafayette were named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who took part in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and financially aided it.[5]

Geography[]

Lafayette Parish is a part of the region of Acadiana in southern Louisiana, along the Gulf Coast. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 269 square miles (700 km2), of which 269 square miles (700 km2) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) (0.2%) is water.[6] It is the fifth-smallest parish in Louisiana by land area and third-smallest by total area.

Major highways[]

  • I-10 Interstate 10
  • I-49 Interstate 49
  • US 90 U.S. Highway 90
  • US 167 U.S. Highway 167
  • Louisiana 89 Louisiana Highway 89
  • Louisiana 92 Louisiana Highway 92
  • Louisiana 93 Louisiana Highway 93
  • Louisiana 96 Louisiana Highway 96
  • Louisiana 182 Louisiana Highway 182
  • Louisiana 3073 Louisiana Highway 3073

Adjacent parishes[]

National protected area[]

  • Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (part, in Lafayette)

Communities[]

Cities[]

  • Broussard
  • Carencro
  • Lafayette (parish seat and largest municipality)
  • Scott
  • Youngsville

Town[]

  • Duson

Census-designated places[]

  • Milton
  • Ossun

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Capitan
  • Elks
  • Gloria
  • Judice
  • Larabee
  • Long Bridge
  • Mouton
  • Pilette
  • Pont Des Mouton
  • Ridge
  • River Ranch
  • Sadou
  • Stekey
  • Vatican
  • Walroy

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1830 5,653
1840 7,841 38.7%
1850 6,720 −14.3%
1860 9,003 34.0%
1870 10,388 15.4%
1880 13,235 27.4%
1890 15,966 20.6%
1900 22,825 43.0%
1910 28,733 25.9%
1920 30,841 7.3%
1930 38,827 25.9%
1940 43,941 13.2%
1950 57,743 31.4%
1960 84,656 46.6%
1970 109,716 29.6%
1980 150,017 36.7%
1990 164,762 9.8%
2000 190,503 15.6%
2010 221,578 16.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9]
1990-2000[10] 2010-2020[2]

At the 2020 U.S. census, 241,753 people lived in Lafayette Parish.[1] According to the 2019 American Community Survey, there were 244,390 people living in the parish.[11] The racial and ethnic makeup of Lafayette Parish was 65.7% non-Hispanic white, 25.9% Black and African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.9% Asian, 0.3% some other race, 1.5% two or more races, and 4.6% Hispanic and Latin American of any race.[12]

In 2019, the median age was 35.2 and 76.2% of the population were aged 18 and older; 12.7% of the population were aged 65 and older.[13] Of its population, 4.2% were foreign born, with the majority coming from Latin America, Asia, and Europe.[14] Among the population, 10.1% spoke another language other than English at home; Spanish was the second most-spoken language in 2019, and French was third.

There were 91,543 households at the 2019 census estimates, and 44.4% were married couples living together; 8.0% of households were cohabiting couples, 17.8% male households with no female present, 12.7% single-person households, and 29.7% female households with no female present. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.22.[14] There was an employment rate of 62.5% and 28,206 businesses operating in the parish; 5,734 businesses were minority-owned and 2,774 were veteran-owned.

Out of the 102,491 housing units in 2019, the median gross rent was $874, and median housing value was $185,300.[13] At the 2019 American Community Survey, the median household income was $56,999; males had a median income of $54,653 versus $38,378 for females. An estimated 17.3% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.

Education[]

Lafayette Parish School System operates public schools for the parish.

Lafayette Parish is home to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana's second largest public university behind Louisiana State University. It is also home to the main campus of South Louisiana Community College (the parish is in the community college's service area),[15] a Remington College in Lafayette, a Blue Cliff College in Lafayette, an Aveda Institute, and a Louisiana Technical College in Lafayette.

Politics[]

The parish voters often supported Democratic presidential candidates before the 1970s, but the majority of conservative whites has trended Republican since that time.[16] Before 1965 and passage of the Voting Rights Act by the U.S Congress, most African Americans were disenfranchised, as they had been since 1898, when Louisiana passed a new constitution establishing barriers to voter registration and voting. They, along with poor white voters, were excluded from the political system. After regaining the power to register and vote, black voters tended to affiliate with and support national Democratic Party candidates.

The majority of the parish voted for the Republican presidential candidates from 1992 to 2000, and did so by generally increasing margins. The results in 2004 gave Republican George W. Bush 64% of the vote and 57,732 votes while Democrat John F. Kerry won 35% of the vote and 31,210 votes. In the 2008 election Lafayette Parish cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain. He won 65% of the vote and 62,055 votes. Democrat Barack Obama was strongly supported by African Americans and won 34% of the vote, some 32,145 votes.

United States presidential election results for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana[17]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 72,519 63.32% 39,685 34.65% 2,317 2.02%
2016 68,195 64.58% 32,726 30.99% 4,682 4.43%
2012 64,992 65.89% 31,768 32.21% 1,882 1.91%
2008 62,055 64.88% 32,145 33.61% 1,442 1.51%
2004 57,732 64.20% 31,210 34.71% 981 1.09%
2000 48,491 61.94% 27,190 34.73% 2,612 3.34%
1996 36,419 48.91% 32,504 43.65% 5,545 7.45%
1992 32,406 45.16% 28,583 39.83% 10,773 15.01%
1988 36,648 59.44% 24,133 39.14% 877 1.42%
1984 44,344 68.80% 19,265 29.89% 849 1.32%
1980 31,429 58.72% 19,694 36.79% 2,403 4.49%
1976 22,805 52.19% 19,918 45.58% 976 2.23%
1972 22,939 69.10% 8,740 26.33% 1,519 4.58%
1968 10,669 35.12% 7,983 26.28% 11,723 38.59%
1964 12,398 46.11% 14,487 53.89% 0 0.00%
1960 6,047 26.66% 14,132 62.30% 2,505 11.04%
1956 6,711 57.10% 4,695 39.95% 347 2.95%
1952 6,470 50.10% 6,443 49.90% 0 0.00%
1948 2,068 27.21% 1,787 23.52% 3,744 49.27%
1944 742 13.39% 4,801 86.61% 0 0.00%
1940 1,850 22.64% 6,323 77.36% 0 0.00%
1936 306 6.28% 4,570 93.72% 0 0.00%
1932 291 6.75% 4,019 93.21% 2 0.05%
1928 592 15.62% 3,197 84.38% 0 0.00%
1924 531 28.97% 978 53.36% 324 17.68%
1920 1,045 55.94% 823 44.06% 0 0.00%
1916 73 4.52% 1,066 66.01% 476 29.47%
1912 244 23.95% 646 63.40% 129 12.66%



Law enforcement[]

Lafayette Parish is primarily served by the Lafayette Police Department, Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Police Department, and the Lafayette City Marshal.

National Guard[]

The HQ and other units of the 256th IBCT reside in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana. This unit of over 3,500 Soldiers has deployed twice to Iraq, 2004-5 and 2010. This unit has also responded to disasters such as: Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Isaac, and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.

Prison[]

Parish

Name Address Zip Aged
Lafayette Parish Correctional Center 916 Lafayette St, Lafayette, Louisiana 70501 13+

Notable people[]

  • Lauren Daigle, (born 1991), Grammy-nominated CCM singer
  • Jefferson Caffery, (1886-1974), U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, France and Egypt
  • Benjamin Flanders, (1816-1896), politician, Alderman of New Orleans (1847-1852), founder of the Republican Party of Louisiana in 1864, appointed governor of Louisiana in 1867, retired in 1880s to his Ben Alva plantation here
  • Jerry Luke LeBlanc (born 1956), former state legislator and vice president of administration and finance at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • Alexandre Mouton, (1804–1885), born in Attakapas, United States Senator and Governor of Louisiana.[18]
  • Frank Schmitz, (1945-1966), four time NCAA champion gymnast and silver medal winner at the 1965 Trampoline World Championships.

See also[]

  • Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

References[]

  1. ^ a b "QuickFacts: Lafayette Parish, Louisiana". https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/lafayetteparishlouisiana/POP010220. 
  2. ^ a b "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22055.html. 
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  4. ^ "History". Lafayette County Sheriff's Office. http://www.lafayettesheriff.com/site387.php. 
  5. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Government Printing Office. pp. 178. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ. 
  6. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_22.txt. 
  7. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  8. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  9. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/la190090.txt. 
  10. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  11. ^ "2019 Parish Population Estimates". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Lafayette%20Parish,%20Louisiana%20population&tid=PEPPOP2019.PEPANNRES&hidePreview=false. 
  12. ^ "2019 Demographic and Housing Estimates". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US22055&tid=ACSDP5Y2019.DP05&hidePreview=true. 
  13. ^ a b "Geography Profile: Lafayette Parish, Louisiana". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0500000US22055. 
  14. ^ a b "2019 Selected Social Characteristics". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US22055&tid=ACSDP5Y2019.DP02&hidePreview=true. 
  15. ^ "Our Colleges". Louisiana's Technical and Community Colleges. https://www.lctcs.edu/our-colleges. Retrieved 2021-06-03. 
  16. ^ David Leip's Election Atlas
  17. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 
  18. ^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963. 

External links[]

Geology

Template:Louisiana parishes

Coordinates: 30°13′N 92°04′W / 30.21, -92.06

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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