| Central, Louisiana | |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Nickname: | River City, City Between the Rivers, Wildcat City |
| Motto: | "A Community That Cares"[1], "Geaux Outside" |
| Mapsize: | 300px |
| Image Map1: | Louisiana in United States (US48).svg |
| Map Caption1: | Location of Louisiana in the United States |
| Coordinates: | 30.5544°N -91.0367°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | Parish |
| Subdivision Name2: | East Baton Rouge |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Leader Party: | Republican |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Wade Evans[2] |
| Leader Title1: | Police Chief |
| Leader Name1: | Roger Corcoran (Republican) |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [3] |
| Area Total Km2: | 161.95 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 62.53 |
| Area Land Km2: | 161.24 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 62.26 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.71 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.27 |
| Elevation Ft: | 66 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 29565 |
| Population Density Km2: | 183.35 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 474.89 |
| Timezone1: | CST |
| Utc Offset1: | -6 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -5 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Codes |
| Postal Code: | 70714, 70739, 70770, 70791, 70818, 70837 |
| Area Code: | 225 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 22-13960 |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Wikimedia Commons |
Central is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, third largest city in East Baton Rouge Parish, and part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. Central had a 2020 census population of 29,565.[4]
Long an unincorporated suburb of Baton Rouge, the citizens of Central voted to incorporate as a city on April 23, 2005,[5] despite opposition from the parish.
Businessman Russell Starns headed the incorporation movement, saying it was based on residents' desire to establish a school system separate from that of East Baton Rouge Parish. The Louisiana State Legislature allowed Central to operate a separate school system only after the city incorporated.[6]
It had about 25,000 residents when it incorporated.[6] Former Central High School principal Shelton "Mac" Watts became the temporary mayor upon the incorporation of the city. Formal elections were held on April 1, 2006, in which voters elected incumbent Watts with 86 percent of the 18,000 votes cast.
In November 2006, the voters of the state passed a constitutional amendment authorizing the creation of the Central Community School District. The amendment authorized Central to govern its own public school system. Central operates its own police and fire departments. Other services, such as water, sewerage, trash, and emergency medical services are still operated by the city-parish. Utilities are provided by DEMCO and Entergy.[7]
On January 9, 2007, Governor Kathleen Blanco appointed the interim members of the new Central Community School Board. The board appointed Mike Faulk as the first superintendent. The new school system began operation on July 1, 2007.[8]
Television station WAFB reported "Central was one of the areas of East Baton Rouge Parish that sustained significant flooding" in the 2016 Louisiana floods.[9] Mayor Jr. Shelton stated that the number of people living in Central who were affected by the flooding was 25,000.[9]
The city of Central is located in the east-central part of East Baton Rouge. It is situated between two rivers with the Comite River on its west border and the Amite River, which forms the border with Livingston Parish. These two rivers converge at the southern borders of the city.
Louisiana Highway 408 passes through the center of Central, leading west 7miles to Interstate 110 in the northern part of Baton Rouge. Downtown Baton Rouge is southwest of Central. Louisiana Highway 37 passes through the eastern part of Central, leading northeast to Greensburg, southwest 8miles to Monticello, and southwest to Baton Rouge.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the total area of Central is 161.9sqkm, of which 161.2sqkm is land and 0.7sqkm, or 0.44%, is water.[10]
| White alone (NH) | 23,706 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 23,334 | 88.24% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 78.92% | |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 2,232 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 3,439 | 8.31% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 11.63% | |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 97 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 71 | 0.36% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0.24% | |
| Asian alone (NH) | 147 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 231 | 0.55% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0.78% | |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 4 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 4 | 0.01% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0.01% | |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 13 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 87 | 0.05% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0.29% | |
| Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH) | 232 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 1,050 | 0.86% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 3.55% | |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 433 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 1,349 | 1.61% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 4.56% | |
| Total | 26,864 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 29,565 | 100.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 100.00% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 29,565 people, 10,233 households, and 7,781 families residing in the city. At the 2019 American Community Survey, the racial and ethnic makeup of the city was 86.9% non-Hispanic white, 8.5% Black and African American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% some other race, 1.1% two or more races, and 2.7% Hispanic and Latin American of any race.[13] The median age among its population was 39.5, and there was a median income of $80,015, making Central one of the most wealthy communities in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area.[14]
The municipal government only has three direct employees: the mayor, an assistant, and an administrative officer. The remainder of city services are contracted to private companies. The municipal government's only source of revenue, as of 2015, is a 2% sales tax. This was instituted at its incorporation and, since that time, had not been revised.[6]
The school district and fire department are funded separately and instituted independent taxing districts. The city government does not pay to maintain many of the roads as they are owned by the State of Louisiana and/or East Baton Rouge Parish.[6]
The Police Department has only a small number of officers on duty at any given time with a majority of law enforcement being done by the East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office and the Louisiana State Police.
The Central Fire Protection District #4 operates fire stations and provides fire protection services.[15]
East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services provides emergency ambulance services and is operated by the city-parish.[16]
The U.S. Postal Service operates the Central Post Office and the Greenwell Springs Post Office.[17] [18]
Residents are zoned to the Central Community School District.
The city's public schools are:
The schools were acquired from the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools in 2007.[19]
Prior to the acquisition:[20]
Private schools within Central's School District boundaries include:
East Baton Rouge Parish Library operates the Central Branch Library. Central's first library opened in the W.R. Edwards Store in 1940. The store needed room for expansion, so the library closed in 1944. It restarted activities in a permanent building in November of the following year. The library moved to a 2604square feet leased building on April 10, 1972. The library purchased that building in 1982. The current library, with 18263square feet of space, opened in June 2002.[25]
The Greenwell Springs Regional Branch Library is in nearby Monticello.[26]
"CentralSpeaks" and "Central City News" are two of the locally produced weekly newspaper(s) in Central. The Advocate is the official journal of the city.
