Cameron Parish, Louisiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cameron Parish is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron and as of 2000, the population is 9,991. Organized in 1870, the Parish is named for Simon Cameron, a Pennsylvanian who was President Abraham Lincoln's first secretary of war.
Cameron Parish was devastated by Hurricane Audrey on June 27, 1957, causing over 390 deaths, and then again by Hurricane Rita on September 24, 2005, literally wiping out most of the parish.
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[edit] Geography
The parish has a total area of 5,003 km² (1,932 mi²). 3,401 km² (1,313 mi²) of it is land and 1,602 km² (619 mi²) of it (32.03%) is water.
[edit] Major Highways
[edit] Adjacent parishes
- Calcasieu Parish (northwest)
- Jefferson Davis Parish (northeast)
- Vermilion Parish (east)
- Gulf of Mexico (south)
- Jefferson County, Texas (southwest)
- Orange County, Texas (west)
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 9,991 people, 3,592 households, and 2,704 families residing in the parish. The population density was 3/km² (8/mi²). There were 5,336 housing units at an average density of 2/km² (4/mi²). The racial makeup of the parish was 93.65% White, 3.88% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.94% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 2.15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 3,592 households out of which 39.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.70% were non-families. 20.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.21.
In the parish the population was spread out with 28.40% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.40 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $34,232, and the median income for a family was $39,663. Males had a median income of $31,167 versus $19,113 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $15,348. About 9.10% of families and 12.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.10% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Cities and towns
- Cameron
- Hackberry
- Holly Beach
- Johnson's Bayou
- Grand Lake
- Grand Chenier
- Creole
- Big Lake
[edit] Community Churches
- SweetLake United Methodist Church
- Grand Chenier United Methodist Church
- Wakefield United Methodist Church, Cameron
- St. Patrick Catholic Church
- Faith Temple
- Bible Tabernacle
