St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

St. Mary Parish (Template:Langx) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,406.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The parish seat is Franklin.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The parish was created in 1811.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

St. Mary Parish comprises the Morgan City, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Lafayette–Opelousas–Morgan City combined statistical area.

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 (50%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> Cypremort Point State Park is located in the parish on Vermilion Bay.

Major highways

• Future Interstate 49
• U.S. Highway 90
• Louisiana Highway 83
• Louisiana Highway 87
• Louisiana Highway 182
• Louisiana Highway 317
• Louisiana Highway 318

Adjacent parishes

• Iberia Parish (north)
• St. Martin Parish (east)
• Assumption Parish (southeast)
• Terrebonne Parish (south)

Protected areas

The parish has both national and state protected areas within its borders.

National protected area

• Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge

State protected areas

Part of the Attakapas Wildlife Management Area is located within St. Mary Parish as well as in St. Martin and Iberia Parishes.<ref>Attakapas WMA- Retrieved February 19, 2017</ref>

Communities

Map of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

Cities

• Franklin (parish seat)
• Morgan City
• Patterson

Towns

• Baldwin
• Berwick

Census-designated places

• Amelia
• Bayou Vista
• Centerville
• Charenton
• Glencoe
• Siracusaville
• Sorrel

Other unincorporated areas

• Florence
• Garden City

Demographics

St. Mary Parish, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic composition
Template:Nobold

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)	43,480	36,883	33,051	31,267	26,334	67.67%	63.50%	61.78%	57.21%	53.30%
Black or African American alone (NH)	18,241	18,262	16,945	17,648	14,950	28.39%	31.44%	31.67%	32.29%	30.26%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	388	820	725	933	911	0.60%	1.41%	1.36%	1.71%	1.84%
Asian alone (NH)	528	969	854	935	647	0.82%	1.67%	1.60%	1.71%	1.31%
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>	8	11	13	x	x	0.01%	0.02%	0.03%
Other race alone (NH)	44	24	46	83	179	0.07%	0.04%	0.09%	0.15%	0.36%
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>	719	853	1,848	x	x	1.34%	1.56%	3.74%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	1,572	1,128	1,152	2,920	4,524	2.45%	1.94%	2.15%	5.34%	9.16%
Total	64,253	58,086	53,500	54,650	49,406	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 49,406 people, 19,856 households, and 11,354 families residing in the parish. As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, there were 53,500 people, 19,317 households, and 14,082 families residing in the parish. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 21,650 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the parish was 62.79% White, 31.79% Black or African American, 1.39% Native American, 1.64% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 1.50% from two or more races. 2.15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 5.43% reported speaking French or Cajun French at home, while 2.45% speak Spanish and 1.59% Vietnamese.

There were 19,317 households, out of which 36.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% were married couples living together, 16.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.10% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the parish the population was spread out, with 29.70% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.20 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $28,072, and the median income for a family was $33,064. Males had a median income of $31,570 versus $18,341 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $13,399. About 20.60% of families and 23.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.30% of those under age 18 and 19.00% of those age 65 or over.

Education

St. Mary Parish School Board operates local public schools.

The Chitimacha Day School, affiliated with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), is in the Charenton community of unincorporated St. Mary Parish.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

It is in the service area of Fletcher Technical Community College.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

St. Mary Parish has two daily newspapers, the Morgan City Daily Review (circulation under 6,000) and the Franklin Banner-Tribune in Franklin (circulation 3,350).

National Guard

B Company 2-156TH Infantry Battalion of the 256TH IBCT resides in Franklin, Louisiana. This unit has deployed to Iraq twice, 2004-5 and 2010.

Politics

Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFootSt. Mary Parish was a swing parish between 1932 and 2004, when it only voted for losing presidential candidates in 1948, 1968, and 1980, with none of these candidates receiving a majority. Since 2008, the parish has become more Republican leaning, with Donald Trump breaking 60% of the vote in all his runs.

Notable people

• Alexander Allain (1920 – 1994), lawyer, library advocate who was one of the 100 most influential library leaders of the 20th century.<ref name=mem>"In memoriam: Alexander Peter Allain 1920-1994", Louisiana Libraries, Winter 2006, 4.</ref> The Louisiana Library Association named its annual intellectual freedom award for him.<ref>Alex Allain Intellectual Freedom Award Louisiana Library Association.</ref>
• Bret Allain (born c. 1958), sugar cane farmer and the current District 21 state senator from St. Mary Parish
• Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock (1915–1987), state House Speaker from 1952 to 1956 and lieutenant governor from 1960 to 1972
• Carl W. Bauer (1933-2013), attorney-lobbyist; former member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature
• Ralph Norman Bauer (1899-1963), attorney; former Speaker of the Louisiana House; a leader of the impeachment forces against Governor Huey P. Long, Jr., in 1929
• V.J. Bella (born 1927), former state representative (1972–1990) and state fire marshal (1990–1992; 1996–2004)
• Elizabeth Bisland (1861–1929), noted journalist and author<ref name="marksbook">Marks, Jason. Around the World in 72 Days: The race between Pulitzer's Nellie Bly and Cosmopolitan's Elizabeth Bisland (Gemittarius Press 1993) (Template:ISBN)</ref>
• Sally Clausen, former president of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammoned and Louisiana commissioner of higher education; reared in St. Mary Parish<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Thomas G. Clausen, Louisiana education superintendent from 1984 to 1988; reared in St. Mary Parish<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. (1930-2020), governor of Louisiana from 1996 to 2004
• Elizabeth Francis (1909-2024), supercentenarian who until her death in 2024 was the oldest living American and the world's third oldest living person
• Geronimo Pratt, Vietnam War veteran who served twenty-seven years in prison wrongfully accused of murder
• William Joseph Seymour (born 1870), considered to be the most influential African American minister of the twentieth century and pastor of the famous Azusa Street Revival
• Warren Wells, Pro football player for the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders
• Dale Hawkins, (born 1936, died 2010) pioneer of swamp rock boogie

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

External links

• St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office