Washington, Louisiana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Washington is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,082 at the 2000 census.

It was the birthplace of Louisiana Governor Oramel H. Simpson, who served from 1926 until his defeat by the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr. in the 1928 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Speed Trap
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Washington is located at 30°36′52″N, 92°3′30″W (30.614428, -92.058363)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²). 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is land and 1.15% is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,082 people, 459 households, and 289 families residing in the town. The population density was 485.8/km² (1,256.8/mi²). There were 535 housing units at an average density of 240.2/km² (621.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 43.07% White, 56.28% African American, 0.37% from other races, and 0.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.02% of the population.

There were 459 households out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.2% were married couples living together, 25.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 80.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $12,177, and the median income for a family was $17,727. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $14,479 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,607. About 45.6% of families and 48.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 58.0% of those under age 18 and 38.4% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Speed Trap

According to the Speedtrap Exchange (www.speedtrap.org), this town is considered a "speed trap", especially on Interstate 49 near exit 25. Typical fines for speeding are $135 1-10 MPH over, $195 11-15 MPH over, and $205 16-20 MPH over. For fiscal year 2005, according to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Report for the city (http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/27E1ECB9F918C79386257110005118D5/$FILE/00001349.pdf), $391,608 in fines were generated.