West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
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West Feliciana Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is St. Francisville and as of 2000, the population is 15,111. The Louisiana State Penitentiary is located in West Feliciana Parish in Angola.
West Feliciana is home to one of Louisiana's best public school systems. The school system consistently scores among the top five districts in the state on standardized tests, and schools in the parish are growing at a rapid rate as parents seek to escape troubled school districts in neighboring East Baton Rouge and East Feliciana parishes.
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[edit] History
The parish was formed in 1824. West Feliciana is historically Democratic in voter preference, and it was the only Louisiana parish in 1972 to support the Democratic national ticket of George McGovern and Sargent Shriver. However, the Republican presidential ticket of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney won the parish in 2004, 2,932 (56 percent) to 2,214 (42 percent) for the Democrats John F. Kerry and John Edwards. Bush and Cheney also won in West Feliciana in 2000, 2,512 (52 percent) to 2,187 (45 percent) for the Democratic ticket of then Vice President Albert Arnold Gore, Jr., and U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.
The parish is the home of the segregationist former Congressman John Richard Rarick, an attorney who practices in St. Francisville.
[edit] Geography
The parish has a total area of 1,103,000km² (4,260,000 mi²). 1,052 km² (406 mi²) of it is land and 52 km² (20 mi²) of it (4.70%) is water.
[edit] Major Highways
U.S. Highway 61
Louisiana Highway 10- Louisiana Highway 66
[edit] Adjacent parishes
- Wilkinson County, Mississippi (north)
- East Feliciana Parish (east)
- West Baton Rouge Parish (south)
- Pointe Coupee Parish (southwest)
- Avoyelles Parish & Concordia Parish (northwest)
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 15,111 people, 3,645 households, and 2,704 families residing in the parish. The population density was 14/km² (37/mi²). There were 4,485 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (11/mi²). The racial makeup of the parish was 48.63% White, 50.51% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.03% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 3,645 households out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.10% were married couples living together, 15.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.80% were non-families. 23.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.24.
In the parish the population was spread out with 20.30% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 40.00% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 7.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 191.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 223.60 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $39,667, and the median income for a family was $47,239. Males had a median income of $35,046 versus $21,922 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $16,201. About 15.00% of families and 19.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.30% of those under age 18 and 23.40% of those age 65 or over.
