Concordia Parish, Louisiana

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Concordia Parish, Louisiana
Map
Location in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1807
Seat	Vidalia
Largest city	Vidalia
Area - Total - Land - Water	749 sq mi (1,939 km²) 696 sq mi (1,802 km²) 53 sq mi (137 km²), 7.05%
Population - (2000) - Density	20,247 29/sq mi (11/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Named for: Possibly a land Grant, New Concordia

Concordia Parish (French: Paroisse de Concordia) borders the Mississippi River in eastern Louisiana.Concordia means "harmonny" in Latin. The parish seat is Vidalia. As of 2000, the population was 20,247. It is part of the Natchez, Mississippi-Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Concordia Parish was the birthplace of former Louisiana Education Superintendent Shelby M. Jackson, who served from 1948-1964, and who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in December 1963. Jackson (1903-1972) is honored with the "Jackson Campus of Louisiana Technical Institute" in Ferriday, the other major community in Concordia Parish.

Other well-known political names from Concordia Parish are former State Senators Jim Brown and Dan Richey, both formerly of Ferriday. Brown was also the Louisiana secretary of state and insurance commissioner. His daughter, NBC News personality Campbell Brown, grew up in Ferriday.

Noah W. Cross was the Concordia Parish sheriff from 1944-1974, when he was forced from office on federal conviction of perjury. He was succeeded by the late Fred L. Schiele, who had also served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1964-1968.

Although the parish trends Democratic, in 2004 it cast 5,427 votes (60 percent) for President George W. Bush and 3,446 ballots (38 percent) for his Democratic rival, Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts. Local officials are almost entirely Democratic in affiliation, and Republicans rarely contest such elections.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Major highways
- 1.2 Adjacent parishes
2 Demographics
3 Communities
- 3.1 Cities and towns
- 3.2 Census-designated places
4 Education
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Geography

The parish has a total area of 749 square miles (1,939 km²), of which, 696 square miles (1,802 km²) of it is land and 53 square miles (137 km²) of it (7.05%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Adjacent parishes

[edit] Demographics


Census	Pop.		%±
1900	13,559		—
1910	14,278		5.3%
1920	12,466		−12.7%
1930	12,778		2.5%
1940	14,562		14%
1950	14,398		−1.1%
1960	20,467		42.2%
1970	22,578		10.3%
1980	22,981		1.8%
1990	20,828		−9.4%
2000	20,247		−2.8%
Est. 2006	19,460	^[1]	−3.9%
Concordia Parish Census Data^[2]

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 20,247 people, 7,521 households, and 5,430 families residing in the parish. The population density was 29 people per square mile (11/km²). There were 9,148 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 60.75% White, 37.72% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.55% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. 1.48% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,521 households out of which 33.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.00% were married couples living together, 19.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.80% were non-families. 25.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the parish the population was spread out with 27.80% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 25.60% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.90 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $22,742, and the median income for a family was $28,629. Males had a median income of $27,453 versus $18,678 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $11,966. About 24.30% of families and 29.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.00% of those under age 18 and 20.60% of those age 65 or over.