Madison Parish, Louisiana
Madison Parish | |
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UTC−5 (CDT) | |
Congressional district | 5th |
Website | madisonparish |
Madison Parish (
With a history of cotton plantations and pecan farms, the parish economy continues to be primarily agricultural. It has a majority African-American population. For years a ferry connected Delta, Louisiana (and traffic from the parish) to Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Vicksburg Bridge now carries U.S. Route 80 and Interstate 20 across the river into Madison Parish.
History
Prehistory
Madison Parish was the home to many succeeding Native American groups in the thousands of years before European settlement. Peoples of the Marksville culture, Troyville culture, Coles Creek culture and Plaquemine culture built villages and earthwork mound complexes throughout the area. Notable examples include the Fitzhugh Mounds and the Raffman site.
Historic tribes which were encountered by European colonists include the Taensa and Natchez peoples, who both spoke the Natchez language.
European settlement to present
The parish is named for former
Following the Reconstruction era and during the
Civil rights legislation in 1965 enabled more African Americans to exercise their constitutional rights to register and vote in Madison Parish, and they began to elect candidates of their choice to local offices. In 1969 Zelma Wyche was elected as Police Chief of Tallulah. In 1974 Adell Williams was elected as mayor, the first African American to fill this position.
Geography
According to the
Major highways
- Interstate 20
- U.S. Highway 65
- U.S. Highway 80
- Louisiana Highway 603
Adjacent counties and parishes
- East Carroll Parish (north)
- Warren County, Mississippi (east)
- Tensas Parish (south)
- Franklin Parish (southwest)
- Richland Parish (northwest)
National protected areas
Communities
Cities
- Tallulah (parish seat and largest municipality)
Villages
Demographics
Because of limited job opportunities as agriculture has mechanized and the Chicago Lumber Mill closed, the parish population has declined overall by about one-third since its peak in 1980. Numerous African Americans left during the first half of the 20th century in the
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1840 | 5,142 | — | |
1850 | 8,773 | 70.6% | |
1860 | 14,133 | 61.1% | |
1870 | 8,600 | −39.1% | |
1880 | 13,906 | 61.7% | |
1890 | 14,135 | 1.6% | |
1900 | 12,322 | −12.8% | |
1910 | 10,676 | −13.4% | |
1920 | 10,829 | 1.4% | |
1930 | 14,829 | 36.9% | |
1940 | 18,443 | 24.4% | |
1950 | 17,451 | −5.4% | |
1960 | 16,444 | −5.8% | |
1970 | 15,065 | −8.4% | |
1980 | 15,975 | 6.0% | |
1990 | 12,463 | −22.0% | |
2000 | 13,728 | 10.2% | |
2010 | 12,093 | −11.9% | |
2020 | 10,017 | −17.2% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1790-1960[9] 1900-1990[10] 1990-2000[11] 2010[12] |
2020 census
Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2000[13] | Pop 2010[14] | Pop 2020[15] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White alone (NH)
|
5,087 | 4,396 | 3,414 | 37.06% | 36.35% | 34.08% |
Black or African American alone (NH)
|
8,259 | 7,357 | 6,173 | 60.16% | 60.84% | 61.63% |
Alaska Native alone (NH)
|
18 | 23 | 27 | 0.13% | 0.19% | 0.27% |
Asian alone (NH) | 21 | 26 | 6 | 0.15% | 0.22% | 0.06% |
Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.05% |
Other race alone (NH) | 2 | 8 | 4 | 0.01% | 0.07% | 0.04% |
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 51 | 95 | 184 | 0.37% | 0.79% | 1.84% |
Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 288 | 188 | 204 | 2.10% | 1.55% | 2.04% |
Total | 13,728 | 12,093 | 10,017 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 10,017 people, 3,832 households, and 2,443 families residing in the parish.
Politics
With its majority-black population, Madison Parish in the 21st century has become a stronghold of support for the Democratic Party. Prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, when the state unconstitutionally prevented blacks from voting, the white Madison Parish voters in 1962 supported the Republican nominee Taylor W. O'Hearn for the US Senate; he lost to powerful Democratic incumbent Russell B. Long. O'Hearn polled 58.7 percent among whites in Madison Parish.[16] He later was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Caddo Parish, also in the northern part of the state.
During the 1970s and 1980s, conservative white voters in Louisiana and other southern states began to shift to supporting Republican presidential candidates, creating a more competitive system than the Solid South. Since the civil rights era, most African Americans in the South have supported Democratic candidates, as the national party supported their drive to exercise constitutional rights as citizens, even though most Southern Democrats remained vehemently opposed to civil rights. In
In
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 1,930 | 41.33% | 2,654 | 56.83% | 86 | 1.84% |
2016 | 1,927 | 40.72% | 2,744 | 57.99% | 61 | 1.29% |
2012 | 2,000 | 38.56% | 3,154 | 60.81% | 33 | 0.64% |
2008 | 2,152 | 40.60% | 3,100 | 58.49% | 48 | 0.91% |
2004 | 2,291 | 49.03% | 2,334 | 49.95% | 48 | 1.03% |
2000 | 2,127 | 44.85% | 2,489 | 52.48% | 127 | 2.68% |
1996 | 1,591 | 31.41% | 3,085 | 60.91% | 389 | 7.68% |
1992 | 1,702 | 33.33% | 2,773 | 54.31% | 631 | 12.36% |
1988 | 2,334 | 47.53% | 2,416 | 49.20% | 161 | 3.28% |
1984 | 2,849 | 48.58% | 2,906 | 49.56% | 109 | 1.86% |
1980 | 2,531 | 42.70% | 3,264 | 55.06% | 133 | 2.24% |
1976 | 2,096 | 29.41% | 4,933 | 69.21% | 99 | 1.39% |
1972 | 2,420 | 49.22% | 2,249 | 45.74% | 248 | 5.04% |
1968 | 649 | 11.41% | 2,659 | 46.75% | 2,380 | 41.84% |
1964 | 2,061 | 83.17% | 417 | 16.83% | 0 | 0.00% |
1960 | 629 | 33.32% | 235 | 12.45% | 1,024 | 54.24% |
1956 | 461 | 27.25% | 276 | 16.31% | 955 | 56.44% |
1952 | 1,253 | 64.32% | 695 | 35.68% | 0 | 0.00% |
1948 | 127 | 9.30% | 197 | 14.42% | 1,042 | 76.28% |
1944 | 338 | 30.67% | 764 | 69.33% | 0 | 0.00% |
1940 | 182 | 15.18% | 1,017 | 84.82% | 0 | 0.00% |
1936 | 71 | 6.14% | 1,085 | 93.86% | 0 | 0.00% |
1932 | 67 | 10.89% | 548 | 89.11% | 0 | 0.00% |
1928 | 151 | 32.20% | 318 | 67.80% | 0 | 0.00% |
1924 | 13 | 4.53% | 274 | 95.47% | 0 | 0.00% |
1920 | 4 | 1.19% | 331 | 98.81% | 0 | 0.00% |
1916 | 1 | 0.53% | 187 | 99.47% | 0 | 0.00% |
1912 | 0 | 0.00% | 146 | 95.42% | 7 | 4.58% |
Education
Public schools in Madison Parish are operated by the Madison Parish School Board.
Corrections
The private Lasalle Management firm operates the Madison Parish Correctional Center and Louisiana Correction Transitional Center for Women (CTCW), both located in Tallulah.
Notable people
References
- ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Madison Parish, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ^ "Madison Parish". Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 196. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ^ Lynching in America, Third Edition: Supplement by County Archived October 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, p. 6, Equal Justice Initiative, Mobile, AL, 2017
- ^ Ken Scambray, " 'Corda e Sapone' (Rope and Soap): how the Italians were lynched in the USA" Archived May 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, L'Italo-Americano, December 13, 2012; accessed May 14, 2018
- ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
- ^ "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Madison Parish, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Madison Parish, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Madison Parish, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, General election returns, November 6, 1962
- ^ "Madison Parish presidential election returns, November 8, 1988". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- ^ "Madison Parish presidential election returns, November 4, 2008". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- ^ "Madison Parish presidential election returns, November 6, 2012". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.