St. James Parish, Louisiana

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St. James Parish (French: Paroisse de Saint-Jacques) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Convent. As of 2000, its population was 21,216.

Geography

The parish has a total area of 258 square miles (668 km²), of which, 246 square miles (637 km²) of it is land and 12 square miles (30 km²) of it (4.52%) is water.

Major Highways

Adjacent parishes

History

St. James is one of the state's nineteen original parishes, created by act of the territorial legislature, March 31, 1807. The original seat of government was the community of St. James, on the west bank of the Mississippi, but this was moved in 1869 to what is now Convent, on the east bank.

St. James is part of the German Coast.

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 21,216 people, 6,992 households, and 5,551 families residing in the parish. The population density was 86 people per square mile (33/km²). There were 7,605 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 49.99% White, 49.38% Black, 0.09% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.37% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 93.78% of the population spoke only English at home, while 4.97% spoke French or Cajun French

There were 6,992 households out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 19.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.60% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.43.

In the parish the population was spread out with 29.50% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.40 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $35,277, and the median income for a family was $41,751. Males had a median income of $37,487 versus $21,712 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,381. 20.70% of the population and 18.00% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 27.70% are under the age of 18 and 15.10% are 65 or older.

Other Facts

St. James is the only cultivation site in the world for Perique tobacco, introduced by an Acadian exile, Pierre Chenet, whose nickname was "Perique." It has been produced by his descendants for nearly two centuries (now covering only a 300 acre (1.2 km²) tract) and is in great demand by large tobacco companies.

Cities and towns

Lutcher

North Vacherie

South Vacherie

References

External links

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Last updated on Wednesday February 13, 2008 at 10:51:33 PST (GMT -0800)
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