Ferriday, Louisiana

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Town of Ferriday
Town
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Concordia
Area	1.7 sq mi (4.4 km²)
- land	1.7 sq mi (4.4 km²)
- water	0.0 sq mi (0 km²), 0%
Center
- coordinates	31°37′50″N 91°33′24″W / 31.63056, -91.55667Coordinates: 31°37′50″N 91°33′24″W / 31.63056, -91.55667
- elevation	52 ft (15.8 m)
Population	3,723 (2000)
Density	2,220.7 /sq mi (857.4 /km²)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code	318
Location of Ferriday in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States

Ferriday is a town in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,723 at the 2000 census. Ferriday claims to have produced more famous people per square mile than any other American small town. This statement intrigued author Elaine Dundy who probed that phenomenon while profiling both celebrities and townsfolk in her book, Ferriday, Louisiana, published by E. P. Dutton in 1991.^[1]

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Famous Ferriday personalities
4 Education
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Ferriday is located at 31°37′50″N, 91°33′24″W (31.630539, -91.556749).^[2]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²), all of it land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 3,723 people, 1,350 households, and 918 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,220.7 people per square mile (855.6/km²). There were 1,498 housing units at an average density of 893.5/sq mi (344.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 24.09% White, 74.89% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.46% of the population.

There were 1,350 households out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.7% were married couples living together, 33.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the town the population was spread out with 32.0% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 76.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 68.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $14,732, and the median income for a family was $18,636. Males had a median income of $23,654 versus $16,725 for females. The per capita income for the town was $8,767. About 40.7% of families and 47.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 70.2% of those under age 18 and 25.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous Ferriday personalities

Ferriday is the site of the Delta Music Museum and the birthplace of the country and rock and roll singer Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousin, evangelist Jimmy Lee Swaggart. Mickey Gilley, a cousin of both Swaggart and Lewis, was born in nearby Natchez, Mississippi.

Dale Houston (1940-2007), whose I'm Leaving It Up To You reached No. 1 in 1963, attended Ferriday High School from 1955-1957, when he was in the ninth and tenth grades. He was living in Ferriday again in 1963, when he teamed with Grace Broussard of Prairieville to form the first "Dale and Grace" duo. Houston and Broussard were inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday in 2007.

Other Ferriday natives include journalist Howard K. Smith, Hollywood hostess Ann Boyar Warner (Mrs. Jack Warner), trombonist Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker, and former NBC Washington correspondent Campbell Brown, former co-host of Weekend Today and a daughter of former Louisiana state senator, secretary of state, insurance commissioner James H. "Jim" Brown and Hollywood actress and children's video entrepreneur Cathy Colvin Vorse.

Three other political figures from Ferriday who acquired statewide recognition were the late Superintendent of Education Shelby M. Jackson, former State Senator Daniel Wesley "Dan" Richey, and former Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater. Noah W. Cross (1908-1976) served as Concordia Parish sheriff from 1944 until 1974, when he was imprisoned on federal perjury charges.

Ferriday native Rickey L. Nowlin is a freshman Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Natchitoches Parish. He and Dan Richey graduated from Ferriday High School in 1966.

General Claire Chennault of Flying Tigers fame was reared in nearby Waterproof.

Troyce Guice of Ferriday and later Natchez, Mississippi, twice ran for the United States Senate in 1966 and 1996.

Ferriday is also the birthplace of agribusiness entrepreneur Pete Vegas, who eventually earned an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. In 1998, when his employer went into bankruptcy, Vegas spun out a subsidiary into his own company in Los Angeles, Sage V Foods (Vegas spelled backwards). Sage V Foods is now one of the largest suppliers of rice flour to American businesses (most non-McDonalds french fries contain Sage V rice flour), and one of the largest suppliers of frozen rice to American consumers.