West Carroll Parish, Louisiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West Carroll Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Oak Grove and as of 2000, the population is 12,314.
West Carroll Parish is nearly 80 percent white in population, while its neighboring East Carroll Parish is 2/3 black. West Carroll tends to vote Republican in competitive elections. In the 2004 presidential race, West Carroll gave the George W. Bush - Richard B. Cheney electors 3,740 votes (74 percent) to 1,231 ballots (24 percent) for the Democratic John Kerry - John Edwards slate.
Dave L. Pearce (1904-1984), the Democratic Louisiana commissioner of agriculture from 1952-1956 and again from 1960-1976, was a native of West Carroll Parish. He was born in Oak Grove.
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[edit] History
The parish was formed in 1877.
[edit] Geography
The parish has a total area of 933 km² (360 mi²). 931 km² (359 mi²) of it is land and 2 km² (1 mi²) of it (0.26%) is water.
[edit] Major Highways
[edit] Adjacent parishes
- Chicot County, Arkansas (north)
- East Carroll Parish (east)
- Richland Parish (south)
- Morehouse Parish (west)
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 12,314 people, 4,458 households, and 3,249 families residing in the parish. The population density was 13/km² (34/mi²). There were 4,980 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (14/mi²). The racial makeup of the parish was 79.89% White, 18.88% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 0.41% from two or more races. 1.35% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,458 households out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.80% were married couples living together, 12.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.10% were non-families. 24.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the parish the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 15.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 102.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.50 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $24,637, and the median income for a family was $31,806. Males had a median income of $28,211 versus $18,477 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $12,302. About 18.20% of families and 23.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.80% of those under age 18 and 22.30% of those age 65 or over.
