East Feliciana Parish (, ) is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. At the 2020 census, the population was 19,531. 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 ...

is Clinton. Established when Feliciana Parish was divided in 1824, both East and West Feliciana parishes are part of the

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

metropolitan statistical area. They are also considered part of the

Florida Parishes The Florida Parishes, on the east side of the Mississippi River—an area also known as the Northshore or Northlake region—are eight parishes in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The Florida Parishes were part of what ...

, at one time part of Spain's

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

colony.

History

The parish was part of Feliciana Parish, which was founded and named in 1810 by Spaniards who then controlled the territory. The Spanish governor,

Bernardo de Gálvez Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, 1st Count of Gálvez (23 July 1746 – 30 November 1786) was a Spanish military leader and government official who served as colonial governor of Spanish Louisiana and Cuba, and later as Viceroy of New S ...

, named it in honor of his wife, Marie Felicité. After the United States annexed this territory, population continued to increase. It had been developed for sugar cane plantations and business was thriving. In 1824, the state legislature divided the parish into East Feliciana Parish and West Feliciana Parish, so that residents would have easier access to their parish seats. The Louisiana State Insane Asylum was the first state institution in the parish, established near the town of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

in 1847. It was greatly enlarged and improved under the administration of Dr. John Welch Jones, who was appointed as superintendent in 1874, during the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

. The bi-racial legislators in power at the time made commitments to public education and state welfare institutions. The facility was later called East Louisiana State Hospital.

Geography

According to the

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

, the parish has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 61 * Louisiana Highway 10 * Louisiana Highway 19 * Louisiana Highway 63 * Louisiana Highway 67 * Louisiana Highway 68 * Louisiana Highway 69

Adjacent parishes and counties

* Wilkinson County,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

(northwest) * Amite County,

(northeast) * St. Helena Parish (east) *

East Baton Rouge Parish East Baton Rouge Parish (; ) is the most populous List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its population was 456,781 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat, parish seat is Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(south) * West Feliciana Parish (west)

Communities

Towns

* Clinton (parish seat) *

(largest municipality) * Slaughter

Villages

* Norwood * Wilson

Unincorporated communities

* Bluff Creek * Ethel * Felps * Gurley *

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

Demographics

At the 2019

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there were 19,371 people living in the parish, down from 20,267 at the 2010 United States census. The 2019 census-estimated population comprised 6,959 households living in 8,487 housing units spread throughout the parish. There were 1,595 businesses operating in East Feliciana. By the 2020 United States census, there were 19,539 people, 6,959 households, and 4,777 families residing in the parish. In 2010, the racial and ethnic makeup of the parish was the following: 53.2% were

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 ...

, 44.9% Black and African American, 0.3%

American Indian and Alaska Native Native Americans (also called American Indians, First Americans, or Indigenous Americans) are the Indigenous peoples of the United States, particularly of the lower 48 states and Alaska. They may also include any Americans whose origins lie ...

, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% of some other race and 1.1% of two or more races; 1.0% were Hispanic or Latin American of any race. At the 2019 census-estimates, 54.5% were

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

, 43.6% Black and African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% some other race, and 0.9% multiracial. Hispanics and Latin Americans of any race made up 1.7% of the total population. During the 2020 census, the parish's race and ethnic composition was 58.3% non-Hispanic white, 36.38% Black and African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.63% other or multiracial, and 2.0% Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of 2019-2021's census estimates, approximately 40% of the population was employed in the parish, and the home-ownership rate was 80.5%. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $139,300, and median gross rent was $647. Residents had a median household income of $51,803; males earned a median income of $61,105 versus $32,243 for females. At the 2000 United States census, the median household income was $31,631, and the median family income was $37,278. Males had a median income of $31,804 versus $20,243 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 parish was $15,428. An estimated 23.3% of the parish lived at or below the poverty line in 2019, up from 23% at the 2000 U.S. census. According to the

Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making t ...

in 2020, the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...

was the parish's largest Christian denomination,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

being the largest religion as part of the

Bible Belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States and the Midwestern state of Missouri (which also has significant Southern influence), where evangelical Protestantism exerts a strong social and cultural influence. The region has been de ...

. Southern Baptists were spread out in 16 congregations and numbered 5,248; following, United Methodists numbered 1,636.

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

had 250 adherents.

Education

East Feliciana Parish School Board operates public schools in the parish. Elementary schools include Jackson Elementary School, Slaughter Elementary School, and Clinton Elementary School. Upper public schools include East Feliciana Middle and High school. Some students in the parish attend Wilkinson County Christian Academy in

Wilkinson County, Mississippi Wilkinson County is a county located in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2020, its population was 8,587. Its county seat is Woodville. Bordered by the Mississippi River on the west, the county is named for James Wil ...

. The parish is in the service area of

Baton Rouge Community College Baton Rouge Community College is a public college, public community college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. Established on June 28, 1995, the college settled into a permanent location in 1998. The campus consists of six main building ...

. Silliman Institute in Clinton was established in the late 1960s.

Government and infrastructure

The East Feliciana Parish Police Jury is the governing body of the

and consists of nine representatives elected by district. East Louisiana State Hospital, currently referred to as Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System is located in

. Its main building is considered to be one of the largest and most significant

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

buildings in Louisiana, it has been placed 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 ...

. The institution was one of the first mental hospitals in the South. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections operates the Dixon Correctional Institute in

.Dixon Correctional Institute
." Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.

Notable people

* Donna Douglas (1932-2015), actress who starred on ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

''. She is buried in Bluff Creek's Baptist Church cemetery. *

Erick Erickson Erick Woods Erickson (born June 3, 1975) is an American conservative talk radio host, blogger, and former politician. He hosts a three-hour weekday talk show on WSB 95.5 FM and 750 AM in Atlanta, which is syndicated to other radio stations aro ...

, Editor of RedState * John Welch Jones (1826-1916), medical doctor, Confederate cavalry officer and one-time superintendent of the Louisiana State Insane Asylum * Junius Wallace Jones (1890-1977), Major-General, United States Air Force * Lawrence Brooks (1909-2022), the oldest American veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, was born in Norwood. * Eddie Robinson, football coach at Grambling State University, was born in

, Louisiana. * John D. Travis (1940-2016), state representative for District 62, including his native East Feliciana Parish, 1984 to 2000 * Kendell Beckwith, NFL player, currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Attended East Feliciana High School and went on to play for the LSU Tigers before being drafted by Tampa Bay.

References

External links

East Feliciana Parish Police Jury

East Feliciana Tourism

Explore the History and Culture of Southeastern Louisiana, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
{{authority control Louisiana parishes Baton Rouge metropolitan area 1824 establishments in Louisiana Populated places established in 1824 Louisiana parishes on the Mississippi River