Livingston Parish, Louisiana
Encyclopedia
Livingston Parish Is a parish located in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. Its parish seat is Livingston
Livingston, Louisiana
Livingston is a town in and the parish seat of Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,342 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area....

. As of 2010, its population was 128,026.

Livingston Parish is part of the Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

 Metropolitan Statistical Area
Baton Rouge metropolitan area
The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a sprawling area consisting of nine parishes in Louisiana, anchored by the city of Baton Rouge...

 as well as the Baton Rouge–Pierre Part
Pierre Part, Louisiana
Pierre Part is a census-designated place in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,239 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Assumption Parish...

 Combined Statistical Area
Baton Rouge-Pierre Part combined statistical area
The Baton Rouge–Pierre Part Combined Statistical Area is made up of ten parishes in southeastern Louisiana. The statistical area consists of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area...

.

History

Livingston is an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

 honoring Edward Livingston
Edward Livingston
Edward Livingston was an American jurist and statesman. He was an influential figure in the drafting of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, a civil code based largely on the Napoleonic Code. He represented both New York, and later Louisiana in Congress and he served as the U.S...

, a prominent American and Louisianan jurist and statesman who assisted in the drafting of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825. Livingston Parish was created by state legislature in 1832.

In recent years, Livingston Parish has been represented in the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 by Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, Heulette Fontenot
Heulette Fontenot
Heulette Clovance Fontenot, Jr., known as Clo Fontenot , is a Livingston, Louisiana, businessman who served as a Republican member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature between 1996 and 2008. He was a one-term member of the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2000 and served two terms...

 (2000–2008) and Dale M. Erdey (since 2008).

Geography

The parish has a total area of 703 square miles (1,820.8 km²), of which, 648 square miles (1,678.3 km²) of it is land and 55 square miles (142.4 km²) of it (7.80%) is water.

Major highways

  • Interstate 12
    Interstate 12
    Interstate 12 is an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana. I-12 starts in Baton Rouge at Interstate 10, and travels along the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain before ending at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 59 near Slidell...

  • U.S. Highway 190
  • Louisiana Highway 16
    Louisiana Highway 16
    Louisiana Highway 16 is a state highway in Louisiana. It runs from west to east for .-Route description:From the east, LA 16 begins in Sun at a junction with LA 21 and heads west northwest into Washington Parish. At an intersection with LA 60, LA 16 turns north-northwest towards Franklinton, where...

  • Louisiana Highway 22
    Louisiana Highway 22
    Louisiana Highway 22 is a state highway in Louisiana that serves St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Livingston, and Ascension Parishes. It spans in a rough east/west direction and is bannered in each cardinal direction ....

  • Louisiana Highway 40
  • Louisiana Highway 42
    Louisiana Highway 42
    Louisiana Highway 42 is a state highway in Louisiana that serves East Baton Rouge, Ascension Parish, Livingston Parish and Tangipahoa Parish. It spans in roughly a East North East direction.-Route description:...

  • Louisiana Highway 43
  • Louisiana Highway 63
  • Louisiana Highway 444
    Louisiana Highway 444
    Louisiana Highway 444 is an east–west state highway in Louisiana that serves Livingston Parish. It spans in a west to east direction.-Route description:...


Adjacent parishes

  • St. Helena Parish
    St. Helena Parish, Louisiana
    St. Helena Parish is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Greensburg. As of 2000, its population was 10,525.St. Helena Parish is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Baton Rouge–Pierre Part Combined Statistical Area.-History:For the past...

      (north)
  • Tangipahoa Parish
    Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
    Tangipahoa Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, one of the Florida Parishes. The parish seat is Amite City, but the major city is Hammond. As of 2006, the population was 113,137...

      (east)
  • St. John the Baptist Parish
    St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
    St. John the Baptist Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana.The parish seat is Edgard, an unincorporated area and the unofficial parish captial is LaPlace, an unincorporated area. St. John the Baptist is one of the original 19 parishes in Louisiana. In 2010, its population was...

      (southeast)
  • Ascension Parish
    Ascension Parish, Louisiana
    Ascension Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the fastest growing parish in the state. Its population is 107,215 which is 39.9% greater than the 2000 census...

      (southwest)
  • East Baton Rouge Parish
    East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
    East Baton Rouge Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, Louisiana's state capital. As of the 2010 census, the population was 440,171. The parish has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is the most populous parish in the state...

      (west)

Together with the parishes of Saint Helena and Tangipahoa, Livingston Parish forms Louisiana's 21st judicial district.

Economy

Livingston Parish is home of one of two installations for a gravitational wave observatory
LIGO
LIGO, which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a large-scale physics experiment aiming to directly detect gravitational waves. Cofounded in 1992 by Kip Thorne and Ronald Drever of Caltech and Rainer Weiss of MIT, LIGO is a joint project between scientists at MIT,...

 (LIGO) which is a facility dedicated to the detection of cosmic gravitational waves and the harnessing of these waves for scientific research. http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/LIGO_web/about/

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 91,814 people, 32,630 households, and 25,549 families residing in the parish. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 142 people per square mile (55/km²). There were 36,212 housing units at an average density of 56 per square mile (22/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 94.35% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 4.22% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.36% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.18% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.02% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.19% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.68% from two or more races. 1.11% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 of any race.

There were 32,630 households out of which 41.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.10% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.70% were non-families. 18.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the parish the population was spread out with 29.50% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 31.50% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 8.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.50 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $38,887, and the median income for a family was $44,071. Males had a median income of $36,508 versus $22,325 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the parish was $16,282. As of August 2001, about 43,800 people were employed in the parish. The unemployment rate was 4.8%. About 9.10% of families and 11.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.70% of those under age 18 and 15.80% of those age 65 or over.

Hurricane Katrina had a dramatic effect on the population in Livingston Parish. Many displaced families of the affected Parishes have moved into the area and as a result, the population of the parish has increased significantly. On June 6, 2007, the Census Bureau published a report "Special Population Estimates for Impacted Counties in the Gulf Coast Area" which shows a population increase for Livingston Parish to 111,863 as of January 1, 2006.

Presidential election results

In recent years, Livingston Parish has been one of the most Republican parishes in Louisiana and the entire United States. In the 2004 election
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 received 33,976 votes, or 77% of the county's total, more than three times the 9,895 votes (22%) his opponent, John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

, received. The Republicans fared better still in the 2008 election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

, in which John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

 received 43,269 votes (85% of the total) to just 6,681 votes (13%) for Democrat Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

.

Cities and towns

  • Albany
    Albany, Louisiana
    Albany is a village in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 865 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

  • Denham Springs
    Denham Springs, Louisiana
    Denham Springs is a city in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States, and part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area. Downtown Denham Springs has transformed itself from hardware stores, drug stores, doctor's offices, and a single movie theater to a collection of various and varied...

  • French Settlement
    French Settlement, Louisiana
    French Settlement is a village in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 945 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

  • Killian
    Killian, Louisiana
    Killian is a village in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,053 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Killian is located at ....

  • Livingston
    Livingston, Louisiana
    Livingston is a town in and the parish seat of Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,342 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area....

  • Port Vincent
    Port Vincent, Louisiana
    Port Vincent is a village in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 463 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Port Vincent is located at ....

  • Springfield
    Springfield, Louisiana
    Springfield is a town in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 395 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Springfield is located at ....

  • Walker
    Walker, Louisiana
    Walker is a town in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,801 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area...


  • Unincorporated areas

    • Holden
      Holden, Louisiana
      Holden is located on U.S. Highway 190 between Albany and Livingston in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. Holden is in a section of land awarded to Micajah Spillars by a Spanish land grant. LA Hwy 441 which runs through Holden in a northwest-southeast direction is the road that connected...

    • Maurepas
      Maurepas, Louisiana
      Maurepas is an unincorporated community in the south/southwestern area of Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is also known as Head of Island to local residents. It is surrounded by Lake Maurepas, Bayou Pierre, the Amite River, Blind River, and Petite River...

    • Colyell
      Colyell, Louisiana
      Colyell is an unincorporated community in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. It was named for Francisco Collel, who was the commandant of Galveztown in 1779....

    • Satsuma
      Satsuma, Louisiana
      Satsuma is a town in Louisiana, in the United States. It owes its origin to the very necessary US Post Office Department rule which does not permit two post offices in the same state to have the same name. Satsuma is located on US Hwy...

    • Watson
      Watson, Louisiana
      Watson is an unincorporated community in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town is in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...


    See also

    • Mike Branch
      Mike Branch (Louisiana politician)
      Michael Franklin Branch, known as Mike Branch , served from 1996 to 2000 as the Louisiana State Senator from District 13 Michael Franklin Branch, known as Mike Branch (born 1968), served from 1996 to 2000 as the Louisiana State Senator from District 13 Michael Franklin Branch, known as Mike Branch...

    • National Register of Historic Places listings in Livingston Parish, Louisiana

    External links



    Geology
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