Eunice, Louisiana

Eunice, Louisiana
CDT)
ZIP code	70535
Area code	337
FIPS code	22-24565
Website	Eunice, Louisiana

Eunice is a city in

tabulation of 11,499.

The St. Landry Parish portion of Eunice is part of the

Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

One-time lawman and pioneer land developer

Evangeline Parish was created with the passage of a bill in June 1908. Eunice and Ville Platte were in competition for the parish seat, and Ville Platte was selected by voters on April 12, 1909. After the election, Eunice declared it would remain in St. Landry Parish.^[4]

In May 2000 a chemical freight train derailed in Eunice, spilling numerous hazardous chemicals and causing about 15 tank cars to explode and burn; approximately 3,500 residents of the town were evacuated for as many as five days. Over 10,000 residents settled in May 2004 for $65 million with the Union Pacific Corporation in a class action suit, claiming that the corporation had failed to repair a defective section of track.^[5][6]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12.1 km²), all land.

Louisiana Highway 13 and U.S. Highway 190 pass through the center of Eunice with U.S. 190 heading west 26 miles (42 km) to Kinder and east 21 miles (34 km) to Opelousas, the seat of St. Landry Parish. LA-13 heads north 11 miles (18 km) to Mamou and south 20 miles (32 km) to Crowley, the seat of Acadia Parish.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Climate data for Eunice, Louisiana (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1982–2015)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	84 (29)	83 (28)	88 (31)	94 (34)	101 (38)	103 (39)	104 (40)	107 (42)	109 (43)	98 (37)	89 (32)	84 (29)	109 (43)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	59.9 (15.5)	64.2 (17.9)	71.2 (21.8)	77.6 (25.3)	84.7 (29.3)	90.2 (32.3)	92.0 (33.3)	93.0 (33.9)	88.9 (31.6)	80.7 (27.1)	70.0 (21.1)	62.5 (16.9)	77.9 (25.5)
Daily mean °F (°C)	49.9 (9.9)	54.2 (12.3)	60.9 (16.1)	67.2 (19.6)	75.2 (24.0)	80.8 (27.1)	82.6 (28.1)	82.9 (28.3)	78.4 (25.8)	69.0 (20.6)	59.2 (15.1)	52.2 (11.2)	67.7 (19.8)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	39.8 (4.3)	44.2 (6.8)	50.6 (10.3)	56.9 (13.8)	65.6 (18.7)	71.3 (21.8)	73.2 (22.9)	72.8 (22.7)	67.8 (19.9)	57.2 (14.0)	48.4 (9.1)	41.9 (5.5)	57.5 (14.2)
Record low °F (°C)	14 (−10)	15 (−9)	23 (−5)	34 (1)	41 (5)	53 (12)	62 (17)	58 (14)	44 (7)	30 (−1)	25 (−4)	9 (−13)	9 (−13)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	6.43 (163)	4.62 (117)	3.91 (99)	4.62 (117)	5.69 (145)	4.84 (123)	4.61 (117)	4.24 (108)	4.90 (124)	4.86 (123)	4.43 (113)	4.79 (122)	57.94 (1,472)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	10.1	8.7	7.9	6.8	6.8	10.7	10.6	8.9	7.0	6.3	7.5	9.0	100.3
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Source: NOAA[8][9]

Parish

Eunice is in parts of three parishes, St. Landry, Acadia and Evangeline. Thus, the names of certain businesses in Eunice, such as Tri-Parish Bank. Most of the Evangeline Parish portion of Eunice is unincorporated.

St. Landry

Most of the city limits are located in St. Landry parish. This was one of the original parishes in Louisiana.

Acadia Parish

Acadia to the south actually borders most of the southern city limits, in a close west to east parallel line, with Sittig Street in the center, parish road 7-23 to the east, and both just inside the St. Landry Parish. On the west side the city limits drops south following highway 755 south and includes the airport, the Louisiana State University Eunice campus, as well as the streets around the campus. Acadia Parish also succeeded from the parish of St. Landry.^[10]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1900	316		—
1910	1,684		432.9%
1920	3,272		94.3%
1930	3,597		9.9%
1940	5,242		45.7%
1950	8,184		56.1%
1960	11,326		38.4%
1970	11,390		0.6%
1980	12,479		9.6%
1990	11,162		−10.6%
2000	11,499		3.0%
2010	10,398		−9.6%
2020	9,422		−9.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]

Eunice racial composition^[12]

Race	Number	Percentage
White (non-Hispanic)	5,448	57.82%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	3,289	34.91%
Native American	12	0.13%
Asian	89	0.94%
Other/Mixed	312	3.31%
Latino	272	2.89%

As of the

, there were 10,398 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 63.0% White, 32.5% Black, 0.3% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% from some other race and 1.2% from two or more races. 2.3% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the

of any race were 1.11% of the population.

There were 4,316 households, out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 17.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years, a half year older than the statewide median age of 34.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $21,372, and the median income for a family was $27,173. Males had a median income of $29,500 versus $18,912 for females. The

, including 41.9% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Located near the heart of

The City of Eunice and the National Park Service sponsor "Laissez les bons temps rouler au rendezvous des cajuns", a live Cajun music show every Saturday night at the Liberty Theatre, an old movie theater that was restored by a "coup de main" by local volunteers after falling into disrepair.[15]

Eunice is home to the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, a unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve.^[16]

Eunice is host to one of the largest

Cook-off.

In 2015, The Eunice Rotary Club and the Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve teamed up to host a revitalized folklife festival known as the Experience Louisiana Festival[18] held each October on the campus of LSU Eunice.

Education

Eunice is the home of Louisiana State University Eunice, a community college. LSUE is a campus of Louisiana State University.

Eunice is also home to both Eunice High School and St Edmund High School.

Notable people

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

• Danneel Ackles (nee Harris), actress, grew up in Eunice after birth in Lafayette
• Geno Delafose, Zydeco musician^[19][20]
• Clovis the Crawfish" series of books^[21][22][23]
• Joe Hall, accordionist playing Creole la la, Cajun, and zydeco styles
• NFL's Cincinnati Bengals
• C.W. Lemoine, Author and Air Force aviator.
• Carlton Loewer, Major League Baseball pitcher
• Dennis McGee, Cajun musician^[24][25]
• Keith Ortego, American football wide receiver for the Super Bowl XX champion Chicago Bears^[26]
• Ann Savoy, Cajun accordionist
• Marc Savoy, Cajun accordionist and accordion maker^[27]
• Tharold Simon, NFL cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks
• Cora Kelley Ward, painter
• Jay Young
  , television news anchor

See also

• Music of Louisiana
• List of Notable People Related to Cajun Music

References

1. ^ "Eunice, Louisiana". Eunice, Louisiana. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
2. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
3. ^ www.carencrohighschool.org 'Eunice named for pioneer developer's wife" Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ "Evangeline Parish History" (PDF). www.lacollege.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
5. ^ classactionamerica.com "Union Pacific Corporation" Archived 2006-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ www.insurancejournal.com "Union Pacific Announces Derailment Settlement"
7. ^ Climate Summary for Eunice, Louisiana
8. ^ "NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
9. ^ "Summary of Monthly Normals 1991-2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
10. ^ "Map Showing Acadia Parish, Louisiana". US-Places.com. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
11. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
12. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
13. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
14. ^ www.lsue.edu "Contemporary Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Musicians" Archived 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
15. ^ www.eunice-la.com "The Official Liberty Theater Schedule" Archived 2006-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
16. ^ www.nps.gov "Prairie Acadian Cultural Center - Eunice"
17. ^ www.lsue.edu "Mardi Gras in Rural Acadiana" Archived 2008-12-20 at the Wayback Machine
18. ^ "Experience Louisiana Festival - Louisiana Festivals". Experience Louisiana. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
19. ^ Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie - Home Page Archived 2007-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
20. ^ "Geno Delafose". Archived from the original on June 25, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
21. ^ "Children's Books".
22. ISBN 088289952X
    .
23. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 27, 2004. Retrieved March 11, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
24. ^ McGee, Dennis Archived 2007-04-28 at the Wayback Machine
25. ^ PBS - American Roots Music : The Songs and the Artists - Dennis McGee
26. ^ "Keith Ortego". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
27. ^ Marc and Ann Savoy Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eunice, Louisiana.

• City of Eunice
• Eunice Chamber of Commerce