Mansfield, Louisiana

Mansfield is a small city in, and the parish seat of, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,001 at the 2010 census, a decline of more than 10 percent from the 2000 tabulation. Mansfield is 77 percent African American. Mansfield is part of the Shreveport– Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Mansfield is located at (32.032782, -93.702475) and has an elevation of .

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.7 square miles (9.6 km²), all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,714 people, 1,916 households, and 1,165 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 5,001 people, 2,500 households, and 1,450 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,515.4 people per square mile (585.7/km²). There were 2,298 housing units at an average density of 623.9 per square mile (241.1/km²).

2000 census

The racial makeup of the city in 2000 was 64.26% African American, 34.13% White, 0.13% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.47% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.59% of the population.

There were 2,054 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.3% were married couples living together, 27.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $21,981, and the median income for a family was $26,683. Males had a median income of $30,239 versus $19,854 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,850. About 27.2% of families and 33.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.1% of those under age 18 and 26.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Mansfield was the childhood home of Joshua Logan, an award-winning director, producer, playwright and screenwriter for film and stage. He is most famous for directing Hollywood classics such as ''South Pacific'', ''Picnic'', '' Paint Your Wagon'', '' Sayonara'', ''Bus Stop'' and '' Fanny''. Logan received the Pulitzer Prize at the age of forty for the libretto of ''South Pacific'', which he cowrote with Oscar Hammerstein II. Logan used Mansfield as the setting for his play ''The Wisteria Trees''.

Ocie Lee Smith was an American singer, who performed with Count Basie's band from 1961 to 1965 and sang on the 1969 Grammy Award-winning recording of the song " Little Green Apples". He was born in Mansfield on June 21, 1932.

Mansfield is the birthplace of major league baseball player Vida Blue (born Vida Rochelle Blue, Jr. on July 28, 1949), a left-handed starting pitcher. In a 17-year career, he played for the Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, and Kansas City Royals. Also Jesse Hudson, New York Mets pitcher. They graduated Mansfield High School in 1967 together.

Mansfield is also the birthplace of Albert Lewis (born Albert Ray Lewis on October 6, 1960). Lewis made his professional debut in the NFL in 1983 with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and Los Angeles Raiders over the course of his 16-year career.
NFL cornerback Faquir Brown (born Faquir Hamin Brown on September 21, 1977) initially attended Mansfield High School.

Others affiliated with Mansfield by birth or residence include:

* Sylura Barron (1900-1997), first African-American woman delegate to a national political convention (1948)
* Joe T. Cawthorn (1911-1967), lawyer, businessman, and politician affiliated with Long faction
* Charles Wheaton Elam (1866–1917), state representative from 1892 to 1896
* Joseph Barton Elam, Sr. (1821–1885), state representative, U.S. representative
*Riemer Calhoun (1909-1994), state senator from DeSoto and Caddo parishes from 1944 to 1952
* Jeff Hall, accountant in Alexandria and Democratic member of the Louisiana House for District 26 since 2015; former Mansfield resident
* Charles Johnson (born 1956), American football player
* Jeter Jones, blues musician
* Sidney Maiden (1923-1970), country blues musician, a singer and harmonica player who played with the guitarist K.C. Douglas
* Sammy Joe Odom (1941–2001), professional football player. Odom was a college football standout at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and played a season for the Houston Oilers in 1964.
*Arthur T. Prescott (1863-1942), founding president of Louisiana Tech University, born in Mansfield but reared in St. Landry Parish
* Mack Charles Reynolds (1935–1991), professional football player
* C. O. Simpkins (1925–2019), African-American dentist, state representative, and civil rights activist in Shreveport

References

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Cities in Louisiana
Cities in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana
Parish seats in Louisiana
Cities in Shreveport – Bossier City metropolitan area
Populated places in Ark-La-Tex
County seats in the Ark-La-Tex