| Union Parish, Louisiana | |
| Official Name: | Parish of Union |
| 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: | March 13, 1839 |
| Named For: | Union of American states |
| Seat: | Farmerville |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 905 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 877 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 28 |
| Area Blank1 Title: | percentage |
| Area Blank1 Sq Mi: | 3.06 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 21107 |
| 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: | 4th |
Union Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Union) is a parish located in the north central section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,107.[1] The parish seat is Farmerville.[2] The parish was created on March 13, 1839, from a section of Ouachita Parish. Its boundaries have changed four times since then (in 1845, 1846, 1867, and 1873, respectively).[3]
Union Parish is part of the Monroe, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of, of which is land and (3.1%) is water.[4]
Geographically north central Louisiana, Union Parish more closely resembles Lincoln Parish, to which Union is deeply tied culturally, politically, and educationally. Union Parish, along with Lincoln Parish to the southwest and Union County, Arkansas to the north, form the eastern boundary of the Ark-La-Tex region.
| Number | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 14,289 | 67.7% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 4,980 | 23.59% | |
| Native American | 59 | 0.28% | |
| Asian | 38 | 0.18% | |
| Pacific Islander | 6 | 0.03% | |
| Other/Mixed | 600 | 2.84% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,135 | 5.38% |
Located in far northern Louisiana next to the Arkansas state line, Union Parish is heavily Republican in most competitive elections, particularly at the presidential level, last voting for a Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 when Adlai Stevenson received 52% of the vote. In the most recent election in 2020, incumbent President Donald Trump received 8,407 votes (75.1 percent) of the parish total to 2,654 (23.7 percent) for former Vice President Joe Biden.[6]
Residents are assigned to Union Parish Public Schools.
| Agencyname: | Union Parish Sheriff's Office |
| Abbreviation: | UPSO |
| Motto: | Service Before Self |
| Formedyear: | 1839 |
| Police: | Yes |
| Headquarters: | Farmerville, Louisiana |
| Sworntype: | Deputy Sheriff |
| Chief1name: | Dusty Gates |
| Chief1position: | Sheriff |
| Website: | http://www.unionsheriff.com/ |
The Union Parish Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency of Union Parish, Louisiana. It is headquartered in Farmerville. The current Sheriff of Union Parish is Dusty Gates, who was first sworn as the sheriff following long time Sheriff Bob Buckley's death in September 2013.[7]
In 1931, a monument was erected at the Union Parish border with Union County, Arkansas. In 1975, State Representative Louise B. Johnson passed a law to refurbish the monument. The completed restoration was unveiled in 2009.[8]
Two Louisiana governors came from the Shiloh Community in Union Parish:
Two Arkansas governors were natives of Union Parish:
Other Union Parish residents have included:
Many facts concerning events in early Union Parish history come from the conveyance, probate, and lawsuit records on file in the Union Parish courthouse, as well as records of the United States Land Offices available in the National Archives. Other sources include:
1) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Spanish Poste d’Ouachita: The Ouachita Valley in Colonial Louisiana 1783–1804, and Early American Statehood, 1804–1820, Williams Genealogical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1995.
2) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Oe A – K, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1996.
3) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Two L – O, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1997.
4) Williams, Max Harrison, Union Parish (Louisiana) Historical Records: Police Jury Minutes, 1839–1846, D’Arbonne Research and Publishing Co., Farmerville, LA, 1993.
A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography
. April 9, 2014. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413131500/http://lahistory.org/site19.php . April 13, 2014.