Ruston, Louisiana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The city of Ruston is the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2004 census, the city population was 20,665. The current mayor is Dan Hollingsworth. Ruston is home to Louisiana Tech University and rests on the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex. Ruston's economy is built around Louisiana Tech and caters to its college population. As of the year 2005, the official student enrollment to Louisiana Tech University was approximately 11,710. Adding several thousand personnel employed by the university, the total university population appears to rival the city itself.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Social Life
4 Points of interest
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Ruston is located at 32°31′47″N, 92°38′26″W (32.529674, -92.640466)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.0 km² (18.2 mi²). 46.8 km² (18.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.44%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 20,546 people, 7,621 households, and 4,244 families residing in the city. The population density was 438.8/km² (1,136.4/mi²). There were 8,397 housing units at an average density of 179.3/km² (464.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 56.94% White, 38.92% African American, 0.17% Native American, 2.41% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.

There were 7,621 households out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.0% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.3% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city, the population was spread out with 20.8% under the age of 18, 31.6% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 14.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,001, and the median income for a family was $37,394. Males had a median income of $33,408 versus $20,413 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,573. About 22.1% of families and 32.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.1% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Social Life

The social life in Ruston is somewhat mixed. For people of ages 18-28 (roughly), primary activities involve finding something to do with Louisiana Tech. There are many shops downtown that one can visit, construction of Chili's and the new eight-screen Celebrity Theater has increased the level of activities in the city of Ruston. There have been a few famous residents of Ruston; Robert Schneider, Jeff Mangum, Bill Doss(actually a native of nearby Dubach) and Will Cullen Hart, the founding members of the Elephant 6 music collective grew up there. The scientist David Keith Chambers received his undergraduate and advanced degrees from Ruston's Louisiana Tech Univ. Other famous Louisiana Tech alumni include country music singers Kix Brooks and Trace Adkins. Ruston is also home to numerous athletic figures, the most famous being Karl Malone, Bert Jones, Dub Jones, Terry Bradshaw, P.J. Brown, Paul Millsap, Tim Rattay, Luke McCown, Matt Stover, Josh Scobee, and Patrick Ramsey. Bert and Dub Jones were the first father-son duo to be in the NFL record books at the same time. Patrick Ramsey is a Quarterback for the Washington Redskins.

One of the most notable places located in Ruston is the Louisiana Center for the Blind, a training center for blind teenagers and adults operated by the National Federation of the Blind. Due to the activities of the students at the center and the relatively large number of blind students at Louisiana Tech, Ruston has a larger population of blind people than most other towns in the United States.