Assumption Parish, Louisiana
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Assumption Parish (Template:Langx, Template:Langx) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,039.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its parish seat is Napoleonville.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Assumption Parish was established in 1807, as one of the original parishes of the Territory of Orleans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Assumption Parish is one of the twenty-two Acadiana parishes. Its major product is sugar cane. In proportion to its area, Assumption Parish produces the most sugar of any parish of Louisiana.
History
In 1807, Assumption became the eighth parish of the Orleans Territory. Its history is rooted in its waterways and its large expanse of fertile soils ideal for farming. Settled in the middle 18th century by French and Spanish settlers, the area retains strong cultural ties to its past with conversational French still common among residents. Assumption was also a final destination for many of the French Acadians exiled from Nova Scotia between 1755 and 1764.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (7.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Major highways
Future Interstate 49
U.S. Highway 90
Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 70
Louisiana Highway 182
Louisiana Highway 308
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Adjacent parishes
- Iberville Parish (north)
- Ascension Parish (north)
- St. James Parish (northeast)
- Lafourche Parish (east)
- Terrebonne Parish (southeast)
- St. Mary Parish (southwest)
- Iberia Parish (northwest)
- St. Martin Parish (west)
Communities
Village
- Napoleonville (parish seat and only municipality)
Census-designated places
Other unincorporated communities
- Albemarle
- Belle Alliance
- Belle River
- Bruly St. Martin
- Cancienne
- Foley
- Klotzville
- Plattenville
- Westfield
- Wildwood
- Woodlawn
Demographics
| Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 1980<ref name=1980Census>Template:Cite web</ref> | Pop 1990<ref name=1990Census>Template:Cite web</ref> | Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref> | Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> | Pop 2020<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> | % 1980 | % 1990 | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 14,576 | 15,033 | 15,565 | 15,442 | 13,580 | 66.00% | 66.07% | 66.55% | 65.93% | 64.55% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 6,941 | 7,308 | 7,303 | 7,111 | 5,973 | 31.43% | 32.12% | 31.23% | 30.36% | 28.39% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 21 | 44 | 67 | 132 | 83 | 0.10% | 0.19% | 0.29% | 0.56% | 0.39% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 24 | 72 | 53 | 56 | 56 | 0.11% | 0.32% | 0.23% | 0.24% | 0.27% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) | x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census</ref> | x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census</ref> | 0 | 11 | 0 | x | x | 0.00% | 0.05% | 0.00% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.08% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | x <ref>not an option in the 1980 Census</ref> | x <ref>not an option in the 1990 Census</ref> | 114 | 167 | 416 | x | x | 0.49% | 0.71% | 1.98% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 517 | 292 | 284 | 498 | 914 | 2.34% | 1.28% | 1.21% | 2.13% | 4.34% |
| Total | 22,084 | 22,753 | 23,388 | 23,421 | 21,039 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 21,039 people, 8,552 households, and 5,484 families residing in the parish. During the 2010 United States census, there were 23,421 people living in the parish. Among its 2010 population, 66.8% were White, 30.5% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.0% of some other race and 0.9% of two or more races. 2.1% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 38.2% were of French, French Canadian or Cajun and 9.4% American ancestry.<ref>"American FactFinder"</ref>
Education
The Assumption Parish School Board operates local public schools. Assumption High School serves the whole parish. There is one private school in the parish, Saint Elizabeth School, which was founded in 1834.
- Assumption High School
- Bayou L'Ourse Primary School
- Belle Rose Middle School
- Belle Rose Primary School
- Labadieville Middle School
- Labadieville Primary School
- Napoleonville Middle School
- Napoleonville Primary School
- Pierre Part Elementary School
- Saint Elizabeth School
National Guard
The 928th Sapper Company, a unit of the 769th Engineer Battalion and the 225th Engineer Brigade.
Politics
Assumption Parish is represented in the Louisiana House of Representatives by Beryl Amedee, a Republican, and Chad Brown, a Democrat. During the "Solid South" era, conflicts over trade policy often caused Assumption Parish to deviate somewhat from overwhelming Democratic support, as did rebellion in the Acadiana region against Woodrow Wilson's perceived hostility towards France.<ref>Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, page 211 Template:ISBN</ref>
Since the Dixiecrat revolt, by contrast, Assumption has been a typical rural South Louisiana parish in its political behaviour. It backed Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948 and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 before showing powerful pro-Catholic behaviour in 1960<ref>Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 222</ref> and then turning powerfully against liberal Midwestern Democrats in 1968 and 1972. With the nomination of the more centrist Southerner Jimmy Carter in 1976, Assumption became again Democratic leaning until the 2000s, when, like all of the rural white South, it has turned powerfully Republican.<ref>Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, The New York Times, April 24, 2014</ref>
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Notable people
- Kim Willoughby, American indoor volleyball player, 2008 U.S. volleyball Olympian, former University of Hawaiʻi volleyball player, 2003 AVCA NCAA National Player of the Year
- Charles Melançon, former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives
- Troy E. Brown, a former member of the Louisiana State Senate
- Brandon Jacobs, two-time Super bowl winner, former running back for the New York Giants
- Johnny Meads, is a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League Houston Oilers Washington Redskins
- J. E. Jumonville Sr., was a businessman, farmer, and horse breeder born in Paincourtville state senator
- Samuel A. LeBlanc I, was a lawyer from Napoleonville born in Paincourtville in Assumption Parish
- Whitmell P. Martin, was a U.S. Representative from Assumption Parish Louisiana from 1915 to 1929.
See also
- Bayou Corne sinkhole
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Assumption Parish, Louisiana
- Isleños in Louisiana#Valenzuela
- Troy E. Brown
- Samuel A. LeBlanc I
- J. E. Jumonville Sr.
References
Template:Assumption Parish, Louisiana Template:Louisiana parishes Template:Coord Template:Authority control