Concordia Parish, Louisiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Concordia Parish borders the Mississippi River in eastern Louisiana. 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 James H. "Jim" Brown and Daniel W. "Dan" Richey, both of Ferriday. Brown was also the Louisiana secretary of state and insurance commissioner. His daughter, NBC News personality Campbell Brown, grew up in Ferriday.
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.
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[edit] Geography
The parish has a total area of 1,939 km² (749 mi²). 1,802 km² (696 mi²) of it is land and 137 km² (53 mi²) of it (7.05%) is water.
[edit] Major Highways
[edit] Adjacent parishes
- Tensas Parish (north)
- Adams County, Mississippi (northeast)
- Wilkinson County, Mississippi (east)
- West Feliciana Parish (southeast)
- Pointe Coupee Parish (south)
- Avoyelles Parish (southwest)
- Catahoula Parish (west)
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 20,247 people, 7,521 households, and 5,430 families residing in the parish. The population density was 11/km² (29/mi²). There were 9,148 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (13/mi²). 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.
