Monroe is the ninth-largest city 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 ...

, and is 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 ...

and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical area, the second-largest metropolitan area in

North Louisiana North Louisiana (), also known locally as Sportsman's Paradise, (a name sometimes attributed to the state as a whole) is a region in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The region has two metropolitan areas: Shreveport-Bossier City and Monroe-West Monr ...

Etymology

governor of Louisiana The governor of Louisiana (; ) is the chief executive of the U.S. state government of Louisiana. The governor also serves as the commander in chief of the Louisiana National Guard. Republican Jeff Landry has held the office since January 8, ...

Esteban Rodríguez Miró Esteban Rodríguez Miró y Sabater (1744 – June 4, 1795), also known as Esteban Miro and Estevan Miro, was a Spanish army officer and governor of the Spanish provinces of Louisiana and Florida. He was one of the most popular of the Spanish ...

had ''Fort Miro'' built in 1791. Fort Miro changed its name to Monroe to commemorate the first arrival of the

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

''James Monroe'' in the spring of 1820. The ship's arrival was the single event, in the minds of local residents, that transformed the outpost into a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

. Credit for the name is indirectly given to

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, the fifth

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, for whom the ship was named. The steamboat is depicted in a

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

at the main branch of the Ouachita Parish Public Library.

History

Early history–late 20th century

Monroe's origins date back to the Spanish colonial period. Fort Miro changed its name to Monroe to commemorate the first arrival of the

''James Monroe'' in the spring of 1820 (see "Etymology" above). In 1913, Joseph A. Biedenharn, the first bottler of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, moved to Monroe from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Biedenharn and his son Malcolm were among the founders of

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

, originally Delta Dusters. That company was founded in Tallulah, Louisiana in Madison Parish. It was based on products and processes developed by the Agriculture Experimental Station to dust crops from airplanes in order to combat the devastating effects that the boll weevil had on cotton crops. Biedenharn's home and gardens have been preserved and are now operated as the Biedenharn Museum and Gardens and are open to the public. Collett E. Woolman, the Ouachita Parish agent, was originally from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. He pioneered

crop dusting Aerial application, or crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known a ...

to eradicate the boll weevil, which destroyed

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

throughout the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

in the early 20th century. Woolman originated the first crop-dusting service in the world. The collapse of cotton production meant a widespread loss of farm jobs, which contributed to the early-20th-century Great Migration, when a total of 1.5 million

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

left the rural

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

for jobs in northern and

midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

cities. They were also escaping the oppressive racial conditions and violence under

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

and the

disenfranchisement Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...

that excluded most blacks from the political system. Howard D. Griffin (1911–1986) purchased a boat dealership in 1936 while a student at what became the University of Louisiana Monroe. By the 1960s, Griffin's company had become the world's largest outboard motor dealership, and he also sold

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

s. From 1955 to 1985, Griffin and his wife, Birdie M. Griffin (1915–1985), operated their seasonal Land O' Toys store in Monroe.

Geography

Located in northeastern Louisiana, Monroe is the center of the Monroe metropolitan statistical area. It is the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, and northeastern Louisiana's economic and cultural hub. Monroe has an elevation of above sea level. 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 ...

, the city has a total area of 31.6 square miles (83.9 km), of which, 28.7 square miles (74.3 km) is land and 3.7 square miles (9.6 km) is water. The total area is 11.46% water.

Climate

Monroe has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). Rainfall is abundant, with the normal annual precipitation averaging over . Monthly averages range from less than in August to more than in June. Severe thunderstorms with heavy

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

, damaging

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

s and

tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

occur in the area during the spring and summer months. The winter months are normally mild, with an average of 35 days of freezing or below-freezing temperatures per year, with ice and sleet storms possible. Summer months are hot and humid, with maximum temperatures exceeding 90 degrees an average of 91 days per year, with high to very high relative average humidity, sometimes exceeding the 90 percent level.

Notable natural disasters

March 2016 flood

In March 2016, rainfall amounts ranging between 15 and 20 inches fell area-wide over 3 days, more than any 3-day period ever previously recorded. In Ouachita Parish alone, there were 9,500 homes with flood damage, and 5,400 were completely flooded. More than 1,700 high-water rescues were performed.

2020 tornado

As part of the 2020 Easter tornado outbreak, on April 12, the community was struck by a low-end EF3 tornado. Damage was severe, but there were no deaths or injuries due to advance warnings.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, there were 47,702 people, 17,327 households, and 9,811 families residing in the city. 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 48,241 people and 17,327 households. In 2010, the population was 48,815, declining from the city's historic high of 57,597 at the

1980 U.S. census The 1980 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4% over the 203,184,772 persons Enumeration, enumerated dur ...

. Of the 17,327

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s in 2019, there were 7,409 owner-occupied housing units. An estimated 3,493 of owner-occupied housing units 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; 354 were male households with no female present, and 927 were female households with no male present. There was an average family size of 3.58; 27.4% of all households were married couples living together, 29.8% were male households with no female present, and 46.4% were female households with no male present. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the city was $30,438 versus $51,073 nationwide. Families had an annual median income of $38,374, married-couple families $75,089, and non-family households $21,210. Approximately 36.8% of the population lived at or 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 ...

; 54.1% under 18 years, 32.2% aged 18 to 16, and 21.3% aged 65 and older lived at or below the poverty line in 2019. In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup of the city was 62.0% Black or African American, 32.7% non-Hispanic or Latin American white, 0.2%

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 ...

, 0.8% Asian, 1.0% some other race, 0.9% two or more races, and 2.3% Hispanic and Latin American of any race. Among the Hispanic and Latin American population at the 2019 American Community Survey, the largest groups were

Mexican Americans Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

(1.2%) and

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...

(0.1%). Other Hispanic and Latin Americans made up 1.0% of the total population. Vietnamese and

Chinese Americans Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

were the largest Asian American groups in the city, followed by Asian Indians; the Vietnamese community in Monroe and the rest of Louisiana grew following the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

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 ...

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 ...

is the largest religion in Monroe, the city's

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

, and

. In common with much of northern and Central Louisiana,

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

makes up the largest

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

by affiliation. As a predominantly-African-American city, the largest Baptist denominations are the

National Baptist Convention, USA The National Baptist Convention, USA, more commonly known as the National Baptist Convention (NBC USA or NBC), is a Baptist Christian denomination headquartered at the Baptist World Center in Nashville, Tennessee and affiliated with the Baptist ...

; the National Baptist Convention of America; and the

Progressive National Baptist Convention The Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC), incorporated as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., is a Baptist denomination emphasizing civil rights and social justice. The headquarters of the Progressive National Baptist Co ...

. 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 ...

also has churches throughout the Monroe area.

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

make up the second-largest Christian denomination by affiliation, primarily divided among the African Methodist Episcopal and Christian Methodist Episcopal churches. The

Catholic Church 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 ...

is the third-largest, and the city's Catholic population is served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport as of 2021.

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

is a growing tradition among the population, divided among Classical Pentecostals, and

Oneness Pentecostals Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic Pentecostalism, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Oneness movement) is a nontrinitarian branch of Pentecostal Christianity that emphasizes the absolute oneness of God and the full deity of Jesus ...

. The

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Christian perfection#Holiness Pentecostalism, Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and a large Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi ...

and United Pentecostal Church are the largest Pentecostal denominations in the city and metropolitan area; there are also some independent Oneness Pentecostal churches in the city.

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

is Monroe's second-largest religion.

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s are predominantly

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

, though the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the Afr ...

also maintains a presence in the area. Former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Jamie Mayo controversially awarded a key to the city to the head of the Nation of Islam

Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a Black nationalism, black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million M ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

is Monroe's third-largest religion, with most being of the

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

denomination. Temple B'nai Israel, established in 1868, is Monroe's oldest

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Economy

Top employers

According to the city's 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:

Shopping

Pecanland Mall Pecanland Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. The mall was named Pecanland because the land on which the mall is located was formerly a pecan farm. The mall is on Interstate 20 near U.S. Highway 165, the two ma ...

has major anchor stores:

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company a ...

, and JC Penney. The largest mall in

, it has a total of 83 retail stores.

Government

Monroe uses a mayor–council form of government. It is led by a city council consisting of a mayor and five councilors. The mayor is elected at large and city councilors are elected by members of a geographic district. Each city council meeting has time for public comment. In the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (; ) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral legislature, body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 ...

, Monroe is in the 33rd and 34th Senate districts, represented by Republican Stewart Cathey Jr. and Democrat Katrina Jackson, and the 14th, 16th, and 17th House districts, represented by Republican Michael Charles Echols, and Democrats Adrian Fisher and Patricia "Pat" Moore. Monroe is located in Louisiana's 5th congressional district, represented by

Julia Letlow Julia Janelle Letlow ( ; née Barnhill; born March 16, 1981) is an American politician and academic administrator serving as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 5th congressional district since 2021. Letlow is the first Republican Party (Unit ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Arts and culture

The Monroe Civic Center has multiple facilities, the main complex being the Civic Center arena. The arena provides of exhibit space along with 5,600 seats, with a larger potential capacity of up to 7,200 seats. The arena houses events such as

banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

es, and

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

s.The center also holds the B. D. Robinson Conference Hall, Monroe Convention Center, equestrian pavilion, and the 2,200-seat W. L. Jack Howard Theatre named for W. L. "Jack" Howard, the Union Parish native who served as mayor of Monroe from 1956 to 1972 and again from 1976 to 1978. The Harvey H. Benoit Recreation Center is used for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games and has outdoor

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

courts. During the last week of June, Monroe hosts the annual Miss Louisiana pageant. Monroe is the home of the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo, which collectively maintains over 500 animals. It also offers boat rides and a catwalk, in addition to other seasonal activities. The Monroe area is home to several museums, including the Northeast Louisiana Children's Museum, the Biedenharn Museum and Gardens, the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum, the Masur Museum of Arts, and the Northeast Louisiana Delta African-American Heritage Museum. This is one of the 26 sites identified in the early 21st century as part of the state's African American Heritage Trail.

Parks and Recreation

Monroe is home to the Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Admission is free. BlackBayouLake

Parks

The City of Monroe owns and operates 17 city parks.

Golf

* Bayou Desiard Country Club *Chennault Golf Course *Frenchman's Bend Country Club *The Links at Muny, Forsythe Park

Professional Sports

Monroe was home to the Monroe Moccasins minor league hockey team in the Western Professional Hockey League from 1997 to 2001. The team will resume play in 2024.

Media

The

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

owned ''News Star'' is the primary daily newspaper serving Monroe and area. Monroe is served by two African-American-owned weekly newspapers: the '' Monroe Free Press'' and the ''Monroe Dispatch.'' ''The Free Press'' was founded in 1969 by Roosevelt Wright, Jr., and ''The Dispatch'' was founded in 1975 by Irma and Frank Detiege. '' The Ouachita Citizen'' is a locally owned and operated weekly newspaper that was founded in 1924. It has all-local coverage of events in Ouachita Parish, including Monroe, West Monroe, Sterlington and Richwood.

Television

Monroe is the principal city of the Monroe media market for television. Both KNOE-TV and KTVE offer a full range of network and local daily news programming.

Radio

Monroe is served by local radio station KJLO, and KMVX, that also broad KMLB AM 540.

Emergency alert stations

*KMLB-KNOE 540 AM *KMVX-KNOE 101.9 FM *KNOE TV 8 *KTVE-TV 10 *KARD-TV 14

Education

Colleges and universities

* Career Technical College *

Louisiana Delta Community College Louisiana Delta Community College is a public community college in Monroe, Louisiana. The college began offering classes in 2001. Louisiana Delta Community College has eight campuses (Bastrop, Louisiana, Bastrop, Jonesboro, Louisiana, Jonesboro, ...

* McCann School of Business & Technology * Northeast Louisiana Technical College *

UniTech Training Academy Unitech may refer to: *Unitech Group, real estate developer based in Delhi, India *UNITECH International, a union of European universities *Papua New Guinea University of Technology *Infogix, Inc., formerly known as Unitech Systems *2006 Unitech Cu ...

* University of Louisiana Monroe

K-12 education

The city is within the Monroe City Schools school district, which uses the city boundaries as its boundary.
Text list
/ref> The school district consists of three high schools, three junior high schools, and 18 elementary schools. The Monroe school district operates the following high schools: *

Carroll High School Carroll High School can refer to: In the United States *Carroll High School (Alabama), Ozark, Alabama *Carroll High School (Flora, Indiana), Flora, Indiana *Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fort Wayne, Indiana *Carroll High School (Iowa) ...

* Neville High School * Wossman High School The Monroe district is separate from the larger Ouachita Parish School System, which does not include any part of the Monroe city limits. The Ouachita Parish school district formerly had its headquarters in Monroe. Ouachita Junior High School is physically in the Monroe city limits. Ouachita Parish High School has a Monroe postal address, though it is in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

.
Compare to this map pages 6-7 (PDF pp. 7-8/9)
The attendance boundaries of both schools do not include any part of the city limits. Schools of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport: * St. Frederick Catholic High School *Jesus the Good Shepherd School - Began operations in 1960 *Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School Other private schools in the area include: * River Oaks School has a Monroe postal address though it is outside of the city limits

Infrastructure

National Guard

Monroe is home to the 528th Engineer Battalion of the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

. This unit is part of the 225th Engineer Brigade which is headquartered in

Pineville, Louisiana Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located across the Red River from the larger Alexandria, and is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,555 at the 2010 census. It had ...

at Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville.

Transportation

Monroe was the founding city of

in the 1920s. As the airline expanded, it moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Monroe Regional Airport serves the city and northeast Louisiana. It has three main runways and is served by regional partners of

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

and

. Greyhound Bus Lines provides transportation from Monroe to many cities across the nation. Monroe has the oldest municipally-owned transit system in the nation. Created in 1906 as a four-line street railroad, the Monroe Transit System now provides 13 fixed bus routes covering most areas of the city, and three demand-response buses serving the disabled. Monroe can be accessed from Interstate 20, U.S. Highway 165, Louisiana Highway 15, U.S. Highway 80, and Interstate 420 (proposed). Kansas City Southern,

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

, and

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

serve freight traffic in the city.

Notable people

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1845 establishments in Louisiana Cities in Louisiana Cities in North Louisiana Cities in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Louisiana populated places on the Ouachita River Parish seats in Louisiana Populated places established in 1845