Lincoln Parish, Louisiana Explained

Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Official Name:Parish of Lincoln
Settlement Type:Parish
Image Map1:Louisiana in United States.svg
Map Caption1:Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:Region
Subdivision Name2:North Louisiana
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:1873
Named For:Abraham Lincoln
Seat:Ruston
Area Total Sq Mi:472
Area Land Sq Mi:472
Area Water Sq Mi:0.7
Area Blank1 Title:percentage
Area Blank1 Sq Mi:0.2
Population As Of:2020
Population Total:48396
Population Rank:LA

25th

Population Density Sq Mi:auto
Timezone1:CST
Utc Offset1:-6
Timezone1 Dst:CDT
Utc Offset1 Dst:-5
Area Code Type:Area code
Area Code:318
Blank Name Sec1:Congressional district
Blank Info Sec1:5th
Website:Parish of Lincoln

Lincoln Parish (French: Paroisse de Lincoln) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,396.[1] The parish was created on February 24, 1873, from parts of Bienville, Claiborne, Union, and Jackson parishes, and its boundaries have changed only once (in 1877). This makes Lincoln Parish one of the Reconstruction parishes.[2]

The parish seat was Vienna from the parish's creation in 1873 until 1884, when a parish-wide vote moved it to the new railroad town of Ruston.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Lincoln Parish comprises the Ruston micropolitan statistical area.

History

Since the late 20th century, archeologists have dated eleven sites in northern Louisiana where thousands of years ago, indigenous cultures built complexes with multiple, monumental earthwork mounds during the Middle Archaic period, long before the development of sedentary, agricultural societies. At sites such as Watson Brake, Frenchman's Bend, and Caney, generations of hunter-gatherers worked for hundreds of years to build and add to mound complexes. Hedgepeth Site, located in Lincoln Parish, is dated about 5200–4500 BP (about 3300–2600 BCE), from the latter part of this period. Such finds are changing the understanding of early human cultures.[8]

The parish was one of several new ones established by the state legislature during Reconstruction; in 1873 it was formed from land that had belonged to Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson and Union parishes to create one in which newly elected representatives might have more ties to the Republican Party. It was an attempt to break up the old order of political power, and to capitalize on the arrival of the railroad line. The parish is named for the late U.S. president Abraham Lincoln.[9]

Lincoln Parish is usually Republican in contested elections. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won the parish with 10,739 votes (56.5 percent) to U.S. President Barack H. Obama, the Democrat who polled 7,956 ballots (41.9 percent).[10]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of, of which is land and (0.2%) is water.[11]

Major highways

Adjacent parishes

Communities

Cities

Towns

Villages

Unincorporated communities

Demographics

Race! scope="col"
NumberPercentage
White (non-Hispanic)25,67253.05%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)18,62638.49%
Native American1450.3%
Asian6821.41%
Pacific Islander50.01%
Other/Mixed1,5123.12%
Hispanic or Latino1,7543.62%
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 48,396 people, 17,712 households, and 10,407 families residing in the parish.

Education

Lincoln Parish residents are zoned to Lincoln Parish School Board schools.

The parish is home to Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, and Grambling State University in Grambling.

Bethel Christian School is located in Ruston.

Ruston High School is located in Ruston.

Lincoln Preparatory School is located in Grambling.

Choudrant Elementary School and Choudrant High School are located in Choudrant.

Cedar Creek (K - 12) is located in Ruston

National Guard

527th Engineer Battalion (Triple Alpha) ("Anything, Anytime, Anywhere") is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana, the parish seat. This battalion is part of the 225th Engineer Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard.

Attractions

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Census - Geography Profile: Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. January 21, 2023.
  2. Web site: " + theTitle + " . January 22, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150329011002/http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Louisiana/viewer.htm . March 29, 2015 .
  3. News: A bill has passed both Houses... . 12 May 2024 . The Ouachita Telegraph . 15 February 1873 . 3.
  4. News: AN ACT Creating the parish of Lincoln, aud providing for the organization thereof . 12 May 2024 . Bossier Banner-Progress . 9 August 1873 . 1.
  5. News: The people of Lincoln parish... . 12 May 2024 . The Donaldsonville Chief . 25 October 1884 . 1.
  6. News: The people of Lincoln parish... . 12 May 2024 . The Donaldsonville Chief . 15 November 1884 . 1.
  7. Web site: Find a County. June 7, 2011. National Association of Counties.
  8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Ccsmpug-xaoC&dq=Hedgepeth+Middle+Archaic+site&pg=PA177 Robert W. Preucel, Stephen A. Mrozowski, Contemporary Archaeology in Theory: The New Pragmatism, John Wiley and Sons, 2010, p. 177
  9. Book: Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. 1905. U.S. Government Printing Office. 187.
  10. Web site: Lincoln Parish election returns, November 6, 2012. staticresults.sos.la.gov. November 17, 2012.
  11. Web site: 2010 Census Gazetteer Files. United States Census Bureau. September 1, 2014. August 22, 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130928155956/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_22.txt. September 28, 2013.