| Simmesport, Louisiana | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Image Map1: | Louisiana in United States (US48).svg |
| Map Caption1: | Location of Louisiana in the United States |
| Coordinates: | 30.9806°N -91.8142°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Louisiana |
| Subdivision Type2: | Parish |
| Subdivision Name2: | Avoyelles |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Leslie Draper (D) (elected 2016) |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 6.15 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 2.37 |
| Area Land Km2: | 5.66 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 2.19 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.49 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.19 |
| Elevation Ft: | 46 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 1468 |
| Population Density Km2: | 259.43 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 671.85 |
| Timezone1: | CST |
| Utc Offset1: | -6 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -5 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 71369[2] |
| Area Code: | 318 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 22-70525 |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Wikimedia Commons |
Simmesport is a town in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,161 at the 2010 census.[3] It is the northernmost town on the Atchafalaya River, located near the Old River which connects the Red and Atchafalaya rivers with the Mississippi River.
The town was founded by Bennet Barton Simmes (1811–1888), one-time owner of White Hall Plantation, which was located on the opposite bank of the Atchafalaya River.
In December 2005 industrialist Frank Stronach founded a new community just south of Simmesport along the Atchafalaya River levee, known as Canadaville, a place intended to house people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.[4]
Simmesport is located in eastern Avoyelles Parish on the west bank of the Atchafalaya River.[5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.1sqkm, of which 5.7sqkm is land and 0.5sqkm, or 7.93%, is water.[3]
| Number | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 528 | 36.0% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 858 | 58.5% | |
| Native American | 8 | 0.5% | |
| Asian | 5 | 0.3% | |
| Other/Mixed | 49 | 3.3% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 20 | 1.4% |
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 2,239 people, 751 households, and 510 families residing in the town. The population density was 1036.5sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 830 housing units at an average density of 384.2sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the town was 52.1% White, 46.7% African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Hispanic of any race were 0.8% of the population.
There were 751 households, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% were married couples living together, 23.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.18.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.9% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 70.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 59.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $15,455, and the median income for a family was $19,115. Males had a median income of $22,153 versus $15,938 for females. The per capita income for the town was $8,061. About 33.0% of families and 35.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.5% of those under age 18 and 28.6% of those age 65 or over.
Simmesport sits very near the end of the Red River and the beginning of the Atchafalaya River, into which water from the Mississippi once flowed freely. In the 1960s, the Old River Control Structure was constructed on the Mississippi to regulate the division of flow between the two. Some advocates for wetland renewal recommend increasing the flow of water into the Atchafalaya basin in the interest of replenishing land lost to coastal subsidence.