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St. James Parish, Louisiana
Main House
Oak Alley Plantation Mansion.
Seal of St. James Parish, Louisiana
Seal
Map of Louisiana highlighting St
Location in the state of Louisiana
Map of the U.S
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Founded March 31, 1807
Named for St. James
Seat Convent
Largest town Lutcher
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

258 sq mi (668 km²)
242 sq mi (627 km²)
16 sq mi (41 km²), 6.4
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

20,192
Congressional district 2nd
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.stjamesla.com

St. James Parish (French: Paroisse de Saint-Jacques) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Convent.[1] The parish was created in 1807.[2] St. James Parish is a part of the New Orleans–Metairie, Louisiana metropolitan statistical area, sitting between New Orleans and Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River. According to the 2020 United States census, the population was 20,192.[3]

It is perhaps best known for being located within Cancer Alley, and as the home base of Goldman Environmental Prize-winning environmental activist Sharon Lavigne.

History[]

St. James is one of the state's nineteen original parishes, created by act of the territorial legislature, March 31, 1807. The original seat of government was the community of St. James, on the west bank of the Mississippi, but this was moved in 1869 to what is now Convent, on the east bank.

St. James Parish is part of the Acadian Coast. While it is possible that some Acadians did arrive prior to 1755 or between 1755 and 1764, the first documented group of Acadians [4 families: 20 individuals] arrived in New Orleans in February 1764. The arrival was documented in a letter dated April 6, 1764, from Governor D'Abbadie to his superior in France. They were settled along the Mississippi River in present-day St. James.

St. James is known for its tradition, Bonfires on the Levee, which takes place every Christmas Eve. Residents build large bonfires along the River levee, lighting them all at nightfall. The townsfolk tell the children that the purpose of this tradition is so Papa Noel can easily see his way down the Mississippi as he is delivering gifts.

St. James is the only cultivation site in the world for Perique tobacco, introduced by an Acadian exile, Pierre Chenet, whose nickname was "Perique." It has been produced by his descendants for nearly two centuries (now covering only a 300-acre (1.2 km2) tract) and is in great demand by large tobacco companies.

PaulinaLouisianaPostOffice1938

Post office in Paulina, 1938

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 258 square miles (670 km2), of which 242 square miles (630 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (6.4%) is water.[4] It is the fourth-smallest parish in Louisiana by land area and second-smallest by total area.

Major highways[]

  • I-10 Interstate 10
  • US 61 U.S. Highway 61
  • Louisiana 18 Louisiana Highway 18
  • Louisiana 20 Louisiana Highway 20
  • Louisiana 44 Louisiana Highway 44
  • Louisiana 70 Louisiana Highway 70 (Sunshine Bridge across Mississippi River)
  • Louisiana 3127 Louisiana Highway 3127
  • Louisiana 3213 Louisiana Highway 3213 (Gramercy Bridge across Mississippi River)

Adjacent parishes[]

Communities[]

Map of St

Map of St. James Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

Towns[]

  • Gramercy
  • Lutcher (largest town)

Census-designated places[]

  • Convent (parish seat)
  • Grand Point
  • Hester
  • Lemannville
  • Moonshine
  • North Vacherie
  • Paulina
  • Romeville
  • South Vacherie
  • St. James
  • Union
  • Welcome

Other unincorporated community[]

  • Vacherie

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1820 5,660
1830 7,146 26.3%
1840 8,548 19.6%
1850 11,098 29.8%
1860 11,499 3.6%
1870 10,152 −11.7%
1880 14,714 44.9%
1890 15,715 6.8%
1900 20,197 28.5%
1910 23,009 13.9%
1920 21,228 −7.7%
1930 15,338 −27.7%
1940 16,596 8.2%
1950 15,334 −7.6%
1960 18,369 19.8%
1970 19,733 7.4%
1980 21,495 8.9%
1990 20,879 −2.9%
2000 21,216 1.6%
2010 22,102 4.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[5]
1790-1960[6] 1900-1990[7]
1990-2000[8] 2010-2020[9]
St. James Parish racial composition as of 2020[10]
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 9,917 49.11%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 9,486 46.98%
Native American 28 0.14%
Asian 28 0.14%
Other/Mixed 390 1.93%
Hispanic or Latino 343 1.7%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 20,192 people, 7,719 households, and 5,732 families residing in the parish.[10] Its racial and ethnic makeup in 2020 was 49.11% non-Hispanic white, 46.98% Black and African American, 0.145 Native American, 0.14% Asian, 1.93% other or mixed race, and 1.7% Hispanic or Latin American of any race. In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup was 48.2% non-Hispanic white, 49.6% Black and African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.4% two or more races, and 1.7% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.[11] At the 2010 census, the racial and ethnic composition of the parish was 50.6% Black or African American, 48.0% White, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.4% of some other race and 0.7% of two or more races. 1.2% were Hispanic or Latin American (of any race). An estimated 15.2% of the parish were of French ancestry at the 2019 census estimates. In 2000, 93.78% of the population spoke only English at home, while 4.97% spoke French or Cajun French .

There were 7,719 households and 8,919 housing units in 2019, and the median household income was $51,603; the median housing value was $158,500 and the median rent was $644.[12] From 2015 to 2019, the parish had a poverty rate of 17.0%. In 2000, the median income for a household in the parish was $35,277, and the median income for a family was $41,751. Males had a median income of $37,487 versus $21,712 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,381. 20.70% of the population and 18.00% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 27.70% are under the age of 18 and 15.10% are 65 or older.

Economy[]

Approximately 85% percent of reported air pollution in the parish is produced by industries located in primarily black census districts, Convent and Uncle Sam and the town of St James.[13] These include the Shell Convent Refinery, an Occidental Chemical Factory, American Styrenics, and Mosaic Fertilizer.[13]

Formosa Plastic Group plans to build a $9.4 billion petrochemical plant in the parish.[13] The plant's property includes a grave of enslaved people, and is being built on the site of a plantation.[13] The site has become a site of environmental justice protest for both the lack of addressing the historical relationship to the land and due to the expected rise in pollution due to the plant.[13]

Education[]

St. James Parish Public Schools serves all of St. James Parish.

Politics[]

The current parish president is Peter “Pete” Dufresne (D), who took office at the beginning of 2020. In 2016, his predecessor Timmy Roussel was indicted on corruption charges, when he was accused of having parish employees build a private natural gas line.[14]

St. James Parish is strongly Democratic, although in 2016 Donald Trump came within ten percent of carrying the parish, and Trump was within five percent vs. Joe Biden in 2020. The last Republican to win a majority of the parish's vote was Warren G. Harding in 1920, when Louisiana's Acadian population revolted against Woodrow Wilson because of his bitter disagreement with French President Georges Clemenceau.[15] Dwight D. Eisenhower won a 17-vote plurality in 1956, and Richard Nixon also won a plurality in his 2,900-plus-county 1972 landslide.

United States presidential election results for St. James Parish, Louisiana[16]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 5,954 47.29% 6,510 51.71% 126 1.00%
2016 5,456 45.15% 6,418 53.11% 211 1.75%
2012 5,209 42.03% 7,059 56.95% 127 1.02%
2008 5,432 43.23% 6,994 55.67% 138 1.10%
2004 4,545 40.92% 6,407 57.68% 156 1.40%
2000 3,813 35.62% 6,523 60.93% 369 3.45%
1996 2,832 26.36% 7,247 67.46% 664 6.18%
1992 3,339 29.85% 6,609 59.08% 1,238 11.07%
1988 3,799 35.44% 6,707 62.57% 213 1.99%
1984 4,627 43.10% 5,989 55.79% 119 1.11%
1980 3,429 34.90% 6,206 63.17% 189 1.92%
1976 2,751 36.85% 4,531 60.69% 184 2.46%
1972 3,112 49.47% 2,633 41.85% 546 8.68%
1968 778 11.91% 2,987 45.74% 2,765 42.34%
1964 1,467 25.82% 4,214 74.18% 0 0.00%
1960 620 11.67% 4,362 82.09% 332 6.25%
1956 1,849 49.19% 1,832 48.74% 78 2.08%
1952 1,353 38.46% 2,165 61.54% 0 0.00%
1948 453 21.40% 859 40.58% 805 38.03%
1944 265 16.04% 1,387 83.96% 0 0.00%
1940 506 25.70% 1,463 74.30% 0 0.00%
1936 259 14.12% 1,575 85.88% 0 0.00%
1932 240 12.28% 1,715 87.72% 0 0.00%
1928 128 7.93% 1,486 92.07% 0 0.00%
1924 278 31.03% 615 68.64% 3 0.33%
1920 533 60.91% 342 39.09% 0 0.00%
1916 185 25.45% 520 71.53% 22 3.03%
1912 228 33.58% 367 54.05% 84 12.37%



See also[]

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in St. James Parish, Louisiana
  • Acadian Coast
  • German Coast
  • River Parishes
  • Perique
  • George T. Oubre

References[]

  1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  2. ^ "St. James Parish, Louisiana". http://www.stjamesla.com/. 
  3. ^ "QuickFacts: St. James Parish, Louisiana". https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/stjamesparishlouisiana/POP010220. 
  4. ^ "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. 
  5. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  6. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  7. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/la190090.txt. 
  8. ^ "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. 
  9. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22093.html. 
  10. ^ a b "Explore Census Data". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US22093&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2. 
  11. ^ "2019 Demographic and Housing Estimates". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US22093&tid=ACSDP5Y2019.DP05&hidePreview=true. 
  12. ^ "Geography Profile: St. James Parish, Louisiana". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0500000US22093. 
  13. ^ a b c d e "The rise of environmental justice" (in en). https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/rise-environmental-justice/98/i32. 
  14. ^ McKnight, Laura; ‘St. James Parish president indicted on corruption charges: Louisiana Attorney-General’
  15. ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 211 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
  16. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 

External links[]

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Coordinates: 30°02′N 90°48′W / 30.03, -90.80


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at St. James 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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