| Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana | |
Location in the state of Louisiana |
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Louisiana's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1868 |
|---|---|
| Named for | Acolapissa word meaning ear of corn or those who gather corn |
| Seat | Amite City |
| Largest city | Hammond |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
823 sq mi (2,132 km²) 790 sq mi (2,047 km²) 33 sq mi (85 km²), 3.99% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
100,588 127/sq mi (49/km²) |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www.tangipahoa.org |
Tangipahoa Parish (French: Paroisse de Tangipahoa) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, one of the Florida Parishes. The parish seat is Amite City, but the major city is Hammond. As of 2006, the population was 113,137.[1] Tangipahoa comes from an Acolapissa word meaning "ear of corn" or "those who gather corn."
The Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Tangipahoa Parish.
Contents |
The parish has a total area of 823 square miles (2,130 km2), of which 790 square miles (2,000 km2) of it is land and 33 square miles (85 km2) of it (3.99%) is water.
Most of the parish south of Ponchatoula consists of Holocene coastal swamp and marsh—gray-to-black clays of high organic content and thick peat beds underlying freshwater marsh and swamp.[2]
| Amite County, Mississippi | Pike County, Mississippi | |||
| Livingston Parish and St. Helena Parish | St. Tammany Parish and Washington Parish | |||
| Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana | ||||
| St. John the Baptist Parish | Lake Pontchartrain |
The parish is served by the Tangipahoa Parish School System.[3] Southeastern Louisiana University is located in Hammond.
On seven occasions, the American Civil Liberties Union has sued the Tangipahoa Parish School Board, along with other defendants, for having allegedly sponsored and promoted religion in teacher-led school activities.[4]
Major highways in the parish include:
As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 100,588 people, 36,558 households, and 25,773 families residing in the parish. The population density was 127 people per square mile (49/km²). There were 40,794 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile (20/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 69.76% White, 28.35% Black or African American, 0.39% Asian, 0.24% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. 1.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 17,625 |
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| 1910 | 29,160 | 65.4% | |
| 1920 | 31,440 | 7.8% | |
| 1930 | 46,227 | 47.0% | |
| 1940 | 45,519 | −1.5% | |
| 1950 | 53,218 | 16.9% | |
| 1960 | 59,434 | 11.7% | |
| 1970 | 65,875 | 10.8% | |
| 1980 | 80,698 | 22.5% | |
| 1990 | 85,709 | 6.2% | |
| 2000 | 100,588 | 17.4% | |
| Est. 2006 | 113,137 | [6] | 12.5% |
| Tangipahoa Parish Census Data[7] | |||
There were 36,558 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.90% were married couples living together, 16.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.50% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the parish the population was spread out with 27.70% under the age of 18, 12.70% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.60 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $29,412, and the median income for a family was $36,731. Males had a median income of $31,576 versus $20,066 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,461. About 18.00% of families and 22.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.60% of those under age 18 and 20.10% of those age 65 or over.
The parish is part of Louisiana's 1st congressional district.
The justice of the peace for the parish's 8th ward (Robert, Louisiana), Keith Bardwell, made the news in October 2009 for refusing to officiate the wedding of an interracial couple; Bardwell, a justice of the peace for 34 years, "came to the conclusion that most black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society" and said he doesn't perform weddings for interracial marriages because "I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves."[8] Bardwell, who said he thought he had refused to perform the weddings of four couples during the 2½-year period before the news of his refusals became public, resigned effective November 3.[9] Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana, called the resignation "long overdue."[9]
Notable residents and natives of the parish, past and present, include:
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