Madison Parish, Louisiana

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Madison Parish, Louisiana
Map
Location in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1838
Seat	Tallulah
Largest city	Tallulah
Area - Total - Land - Water	651 sq mi (1,685 km²) 624 sq mi (1,616 km²) 26 sq mi (69 km²), 4.07%
Population - (2000) - Density	13,728 22/sq mi (8/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Named for: President James Madison

Madison Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its parish seat is Tallulah. In 2000, its population was 13,728. The parish is named for former U.S. President James Madison.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Politics
4 Cities and towns
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Geography

The parish has a total area of 651 square miles (1,685 km²), of which, 624 square miles (1,616 km²) of it is land and 26 square miles (69 km²) of it (4.07%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Adjacent parishes

[edit] National protected areas

Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Vicksburg National Military Park (part)

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 13,728 people, 4,469 households, and 3,141 families residing in the parish. The population density was 22 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 4,979 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 37.86% White, 60.34% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. 2.10% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


Census	Pop.		%±
1900	12,322		—
1910	10,676		−13.4%
1920	10,829		1.4%
1930	14,829		36.9%
1940	18,443		24.4%
1950	17,451		−5.4%
1960	16,444		−5.8%
1970	15,065		−8.4%
1980	15,975		6%
1990	12,463		−22%
2000	13,728		10.2%
Est. 2006	12,328	^[2]	−10.2%
Madison Parish Census Data^[3]

There were 4,469 households out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.20% were married couples living together, 24.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.70% were non-families. 26.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the parish the population was spread out with 32.60% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 25.50% from 25 to 44, 19.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 103.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.60 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $20,509, and the median income for a family was $23,589. Males had a median income of $26,394 versus $16,141 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $10,114. About 29.70% of families and 36.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 51.60% of those under age 18 and 22.00% of those age 65 or over. The county's per-capita income makes it one of the poorest counties in the United States.

[edit] Politics

Madison Parish is a stronghold of the Democratic Party. However, prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which enfranchised many African American voters, Madison Parish voted for Republican senatorial nominee Taylor W. O'Hearn in 1962, who lost to incumbent Russell B. Long, and Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964.

In the 2004 presidential race, Madison Parish gave the George W. Bush - Richard B. Cheney electors 2,291 votes (49 percent) to 2,334 ballots (50 percent) for the Democratic John Kerry - John Edwards slate. Kerry was hence a weaker nominee in Madison Parish than most other prior Democratic candidates.

The district attorney from Madison Parish, James D. "Buddy" Caldwell, Jr., was inaugurated as the state's attorney general on January 14, 2008.