Union Parish, Louisiana

Union Parish, Louisiana

Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville
Map of Louisiana highlighting Union Parish
Location in the state of Louisiana
Map of the United States highlighting Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Founded March 13, 1839
Named for Union of American states
Seat Farmerville
Largest town Farmerville
Area
 • Total 905 sq mi (2,344 km2)
 • Land 877 sq mi (2,271 km2)
 • Water 28 sq mi (73 km2), 3.06%
Population
 • (2010) 22,721
 • Density 26/sq mi (10/km²)
Congressional district 4th
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Lake D'Arbonne west of Farmerville.
Union General Hospital in Farmerville.

Union Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Union) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,721.[1] The parish seat is Farmerville.[2] The parish was created on March 13, 1839, from a section of Ouachita Parish. Its boundaries have changed four times since then (in 1845, 1846, 1867, and 1873, respectively).[3]

Union Parish is part of the Monroe, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Union Parish/Union County monument

In 1931, a monument was erected at the Union Parish border with Union County, Arkansas, through the private efforts of former Arkansas Governor George Washington Donaghey (1856–1937).[4] He was born in Union Parish and grew up in the border area before moving with his family as a teenager to Conway, Arkansas. As governor of Arkansas, Donaghey oversaw the construction of the state capitol building in Little Rock and implemented founding of the state health unit and its agricultural colleges.

Long having felt a kinship to both states, after his gubernatorial tenure Donaghey commissioned a park on the border land and a monument. The monument is known for its intricate carvings and Art Deco style. It includes references to different modes of transportation in 1831 and 1931 and mentions Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long, Jr., whose educational program Donaghey admired. The land was not registered with the state parks offices in either state, timber companies cut trees thereabouts, and the monument was forgotten. In 1975, State Representative Louise B. Johnson gained passage of a law to refurbish the monument. A completed restoration was unveiled in 2009.[4]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 905 square miles (2,340 km2), of which 877 square miles (2,270 km2) is land and 28 square miles (73 km2) (3.1%) is water.[5]

Geographically north central Louisiana and more closely resembles Lincoln Parish, to which Union is deeply tied culturally, politically, and educationally. The Piney Hills Country is very different from the flat, hardwood delta lands of northeastern Louisiana.

Major highways

Adjacent parishes and counties

Union Parish in Louisiana and Union County in Arkansas are two of twenty-two counties or parishes in the United States with the same name to border each other across state lines.

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
18401,838—
18508,203346.3%
186010,38926.6%
187011,68512.5%
188013,52615.8%
189017,30427.9%
190018,5207.0%
191020,45110.4%
192019,621−4.1%
193020,7315.7%
194020,9431.0%
195019,141−8.6%
196017,624−7.9%
197018,4474.7%
198021,16714.7%
199020,690−2.3%
200022,80310.2%
201022,721−0.4%
Est. 201422,539[6]−0.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9]
1990-2000[10] 2010-2013[1]

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 22,803 people, 8,857 households, and 6,412 families residing in the parish. The population density was 26 people per square mile (10/km²). There were 10,873 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 69.79% White, 27.95% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.26% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. 2.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,857 households out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 13.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the parish the population was spread out with 25.70% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.90 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $29,061, and median income of a family was $36,035. Males had a median income of $30,494 versus $21,070 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,819. About 14.30% of families and 18.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.60% of those under age 18 and 17.70% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Located in far northern Louisiana next to the Arkansas state line, Union Parish is heavily Republican in most competitive elections, particularly at the presidential level. In 2012, Mitt Romney received 7,561 votes (70.2 percent) of the parish total to 3,075 (28.6 percent) for U.S. President Barack Obama.[12]

Education

Residents are assigned to Union Parish Public Schools.

Communities

Map of Union Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

Towns

Villages

Unincorporated communities

Notable residents

Two Louisiana governors came from the Shiloh Community in Union Parish:

Two Arkansas governors were natives of Union Parish:

Other Union Parish residents have included:

See also

Sources

Many facts concerning events in early Union Parish history come from the conveyance, probate, and lawsuit records on file in the Union Parish courthouse, as well as records of the United States Land Offices available in the National Archives. Other sources include:

1) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Spanish Poste d’Ouachita: The Ouachita Valley in Colonial Louisiana 1783–1804, and Early American Statehood, 1804–1820, Williams Genealogical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1995.

2) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Oe A – K, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1996.

3) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Two L – O, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1997.

4) Williams, Max Harrison, Union Parish (Louisiana) Historical Records: Police Jury Minutes, 1839–1846, D’Arbonne Research and Publishing Co., Farmerville, LA, 1993.

5) Union Parish Civil Suit #124D, Lawrence Scarborough to Sarah Scarborough his wife, 15 October 1829. Lawrence gives to his wife his legal right of "pre-emption" to land on Bayou d'Loutre. Specifically, Lawrence gave to his wife

"...anticipated by law an improvement on public land situated on the loutre..."

This proves that Scarborough had settled and made improvements on a tract of land in Union Parish by 1829. However, the records of the United States Land Office indicate that the land and improvements given to Sarah Scarborough were actually on Bayou Corney, not Bayou d'Loutre. The Loutre was some eight miles (13 km) northeast of the 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land Sarah Scarborough purchased at the Ouachita Land Office in Monroe between 1840 and 1843.

Written by Timothy Dean Hudson, 2007.

6) Luke H. Smith, Union Parish Louisiana Police Jury Minutes, Second Book, 22 July 1844 - Land Grant on 21 November 1846 at the Land office of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. Conveyance abstracts of court records of Union Parish, Louisiana in a book entitled "Some Slaveholders and Their Slaves" 1839-1865 by Harry F. Dill and William Simpson, pgs 74, 83, 89, 100, and 107

References

  1. 1 2 "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. ↑ http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Louisiana/viewer.htm
  4. 1 2 "Matthew Hamil, "Monument Forgotten by Time"". Monroe News Star, August 31, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  5. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  11. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  12. ↑ "Union Parish presidential election returns, November 6, 2012". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012" (PDF). legis.la.gov. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Bolton, George Washington". Louisiana Historical Association: A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Dr. Grady A. Dugas". The Monroe News-Star. March 26, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Harvey Goodwyn Fields, Sr.". findagrave.com. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Louisiana: McCallum, Jay Bowen", Who's Who in American Politics, 2003-2004, 19th ed., Vol. 1 (Alabama-Montana) (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, New Jersey, 2003), p. 787
  18. ↑ Henry E. Chambers, "Robert Roberts, Jr.", A History of Louisiana, Vol. 2 (Chicago and New York City, American Historical Society, Inc., 1925), pp. 21-22
  19. ↑ "Greg Hilburn, State honors the late Rep. Smith with bridge renaming, September 12, 2013". Monroe News-Star. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Thomas, Lee Emmett". Louisiana Historical Association, A Directory of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). Retrieved December 29, 2010.
 Union County, Arkansas Ashley County, Arkansas
Claiborne Parish Morehouse Parish
   Union Parish, Louisiana  
Lincoln Parish Ouachita Parish

Coordinates: 32°50′N 92°23′W / 32.83°N 92.38°W / 32.83; -92.38

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