Bonita is a village in

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

, United States. The population was 170 at the 2020 census, down from 284 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

History

Not much is known on the early history of Bonita, but it is believed that the exstention of the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...

through Morehouse Parish in the 1890s is what triggered the establishment of the town. The construction of a post office around the same period solidifies this. Bonita was incorporated as a village in 1901. Five churches serve the small village. St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, St. Luke Baptist Church, St. Joe Ame Church, the Bonita Church of God, and the Bonita Baptist Church.

Geography

Bonita is located in northeastern Morehouse Parish. U.S. Route 165 passes through the village, leading southwest to Mer Rouge and to Bastrop, the

parish seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

, while to the northeast it leads to Wilmot, Arkansas. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Bonita has a total area of , all of it recorded as land. Bayou Bonne Idee winds through the east side of the village, running south to the

Boeuf River The Boeuf River () is a tributary of the Ouachita River in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana. The river is about long. It flows into the Ouachita near Enterprise, Louisiana.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolu ...

east of Oak Ridge. It is part of the

Ouachita River The Ouachita River ( ) is a river that runs south and east through the United States, U.S. U.S. state, states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River (Louisiana), Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It i ...

watershed.

Demographics

2020 census

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 335 people, 122 households, and 87 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 143 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 42.69%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 55.52%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.30% Asian, 1.49% from other races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.49% of the population. There were 122 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.35. In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $22,727, and the median income for a family was $25,227. Males had a median income of $19,167 versus $19,688 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $25,029. About 25.0% of families and 30.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 37.6% of those under age 18 and 27.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Bonita Progress
Community Progress Site for Bonita, LA {{authority control Villages in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana Villages in Louisiana