Morehouse Parish, Louisiana

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200px|right|thumb|The Morehouse Parish Assessor's Office is located behind the parish courthouse in Bastrop.

Morehouse Parish (French: Paroisse de Morehouse) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,629. The parish seat is Bastrop. The parish was formed in 1844.

Morehouse Parish comprises the Bastrop, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Monroe–Ruston–Bastrop, LA Combined Statistical Area.

History

Francois Bonaventure built a house on 2000~acre tract in 1775 in Bastrop, Louisiana.

Morehouse Parish is named after Colonel Abraham Morehouse, who served in the Revolutionary War.

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Morehouse Parish was a stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan. During the trial for the 1922 Lynchings of Mer Rouge, Louisiana, many witnesses testified that parish officials including Sheriff Fred Carpenter, his deputies, the district attorney, and the postmaster were Klan members. However, the grand jury, itself likely made up largely of Klan members, dismissed the case.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of , of which is land and (1.4%) is water.

Major highways

25px U.S. Highway 165
25px U.S. Highway 425
25px Louisiana Highway 2
25px Louisiana Highway 133
25px Louisiana Highway 134

Adjacent counties and parishes

Union County, Arkansas (northwest)
Ashley County, Arkansas (north)
Chicot County, Arkansas (northeast)
West Carroll Parish (east)
Richland Parish (southeast)
Ouachita Parish (southwest)
Union Parish (west)

National protected areas

Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge
Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Communities

City

Bastrop (parish seat and largest municipality)

Villages

Bonita
Collinston
Mer Rouge
Oak Ridge

Unincorporated communities

Beekman
Bordenax
Counters Neck
Galion
Geddie
Gum Ridge
Haynes Landing
Humphreys
Jones
Laark
Log Cabin
Marcarco
McGinty
Naff
New Land Grove Landing
Oak Landing
Perryville
Point Pleasant
Robinson
Spyker
Stampley
Stevenson
Upland
Usarco
Vaughn
Wardville
Windsor

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the parish had a population of 25,629, 10,302 households, and 6,194 families. The median age was 42.8 years, 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18, 20.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older, for every 100 females there were 98.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.9 males age 18 and over.

49.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 50.8% lived in rural areas.

There were 10,302 households in the parish, of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 37.3% were married-couple households, 20.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|20,611

|18,528

|17,215

|14,251

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12,220

|59.22%

|58.01%

|55.49%

|50.93%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |47.68%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|13,794

|13,209

|13,353

|13,078

|style='background: #ffffe6; |11,976

|39.63%

|41.36%

|43.05%

|46.74%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |46.73%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|17

|24

|39

|36

|style='background: #ffffe6; |80

|0.05%

|0.08%

|0.13%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.31%

|Asian alone (NH)

|36

|41

|57

|98

|style='background: #ffffe6; |89

|0.10%

|0.13%

|0.18%

|0.35%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.35%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|12

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3

|0.01%

|0.04%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.01%

|Other race alone (NH)

|12

|style='background: #ffffe6; |29

|0.03%

|0.00%

|0.01%

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.11%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|121

|240

|style='background: #ffffe6; |851

|0.39%

|0.86%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.32%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|333

|136

|230

|255

|style='background: #ffffe6; |381

|0.96%

|0.43%

|0.74%

|0.91%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.49%

|Total

|34,803

|31,938

|31,021

|27,979

|style='background: #ffffe6; |25,629

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2010 census

By the 2010 census, 27,979 people lived in the parish. 51.3% were White, 46.9% Black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% of some other race and 1.0% of two or more races. 0.9% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race)., there were 31,021 people, 11,382 households, and 8,320 families living in the parish. The population density was . There were 12,711 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the parish was 55.76% White, 43.36% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. 0.74% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Morehouse Parish Detention Center - The Morehouse Parish Detention Center is located at 6444 Patey Road in Collinston. The Detention Center presently houses approximately 272 inmates and employs 33 corrections officers.

Politics

In 1975, Edwards Barham, a farmer and businessman from Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish, became the first Republican elected to the Louisiana State Senate since the era of Reconstruction. Barham won his seat by eighty-nine votes. He was unseated after a single term in office in 1979 by the Democrat David 'Bo' Ginn of Bastrop.

In the 2012 U.S. presidential election, Morehouse Parish cast 6,591 votes (52.3 percent) for Republican nominee Mitt Romney. U.S. President Barack Obama trailed with 5,888 ballots (46.7 percent). In 2008, Republican John McCain prevailed in Morehouse Parish with 7,258 votes (55 percent) to Barack Obama's 5,792 ballots (43.9 percent).

Education

Morehouse Parish School Board operates local public schools.

National Guard

The 1023rd Engineer Company (Vertical) of the 528th Engineer Battalion of the 225th Engineer Brigade is located in Bastrop.