Convent () is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in and the parish seat of St. James Parish,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. It has been the parish seat since 1869. It is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area . As of the 2010 census, its population was 711. The 2018 median household income was $52,292 above the state's average.

History

The community was originally named Baron when first settled 1722 to 1739. It was the location of the St. Michael's Convent (Order of the Sacred Heart) from 1825 to 1932 and the location of Jefferson College, 1831 to 1931. St. Michael's Church Historic District and Jefferson College (now a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

retreat center called Manresa House of Retreats), along with several historic homes in Convent, are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. On February 23, 2016, an extremely large wedge tornado hit the Sugar Hill RV park with two dead and several people injured.

Geography

Located on the east bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, the town is only above sea level. Convent has an area of , of which is land and is water.

Demographics

Industry

The town of Convent is home to a Royal Dutch Shell, Hydrogen cracking refinery that can produce 210k barrels of day of consumer petroleum products. As of July 2020, Shell was considering selling the plant. The plant produces 129,000 kg of annual air emissions that are high risk, including cobalt and cobalt compounds which is in high demand for the production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

Notable person

* Jarvis Landry is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. He also played college football at LSU.

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in St. James Parish, Louisiana New Orleans metropolitan area Parish seats in Louisiana Census-designated places in Louisiana Louisiana populated places on the Mississippi River