St. Joseph, Louisiana

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The town of St. Joseph is the parish seat of Tensas Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 1,340 at the 2000 census.

Tensas Parish High School, a consolidation of the former Davidson High School in St. Joseph, Newellton High School in Newellton, and Waterproof High School in Waterproof, began operating in the fall of 2006 on the former Davidson campus. The school board expects to improve educational quality by focusing on one high school for the entire small-populated parish. Troubles broke out at the school on November 2, 2006, and fourteen black males were arrested by the sheriff's department. Overt tensions thereafter subsided.

[edit] Geography

St. Joseph is located at 31°55′7″N, 91°14′18″W (31.918513, -91.238284)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,340 people, 500 households, and 337 families residing in the town. The population density was 581.3/km² (1,505.2/mi²). There were 607 housing units at an average density of 263.3/km² (681.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 29.78% White, 68.58% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.30% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.75% of the population.

There were 500 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.2% were married couples living together, 25.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.29.

In the town the population was spread out with 30.5% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $19,539, and the median income for a family was $22,935. Males had a median income of $22,321 versus $15,288 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,049. About 33.0% of families and 37.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 47.5% of those under age 18 and 33.3% of those age 65 or over.