Ste. Genevieve, Missouri

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Ste. Genevieve (French: Ville de Ste-Geneviève) is a city in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,476 people at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County^GR6 and is the oldest town in Missouri. The historic French settlement of Ste. Genevieve is located along the Mississippi River and is the oldest permanent settlement in the State of Missouri. A census states that Ste. Genevieve was settled at least by the year 1752 before it was relocated to its present site after a major flood in 1785. After the Treaty of Paris ended North America's French and Indian War and Europe's Seven Years' War in 1763, the Mississippi River became an international colonial boundary. Thus, many French settlers in Illinois crossed the river to Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis. Ste. Genevieve's final French/Spanish colonial commandant and the first American governor of Ste. Genevieve was Jean Baptiste Valle (1760-1849) who possibly along with his brother Francois Valle II and father Francois Valle, previous commandants, made deals with the area Indians. Ste. Genevieve has some of the most historical homes in the area. For example, of the five surviving poteaux en terre ("posts-in-the-ground") houses in the United States, three of these are located in Ste. Genevieve with the other two located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Another archtectural style is poteaux sur solle ("posts-on-a-sill").

[edit] Geography

Ste. Genevieve is located at 37°58′37″N, 90°2′55″W (37.976960, -90.048672)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.8 km² (4.2 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 4,476 people, 1,818 households, and 1,154 families residing in the city. The population density was 415.4/km² (1,076.7/mi²). There were 1,965 housing units at an average density of 182.4/km² (472.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.07% White, 2.14% African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.12% of the population.

There were 1,818 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,929, and the median income for a family was $43,125. Males had a median income of $31,546 versus $19,804 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,361. About 7.8% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.