Richland 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 North Louisiana Delta Country in the U.S. state of

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 ...

, known for its fertile, flat farmland, cane brakes, and open spaces. The parish had a population of 20,043 at the 2020 United States census. The name Richland was chosen due to the rich production from farming. The parish seat and largest community is Rayville.

History

The parish was officially created on September 29, 1868.

Rayville, Louisiana Rayville is a town in and the parish seat of Richland Parish, Louisiana, Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,347 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down nearly 21 percent from 4,234 in 2000 Un ...

, the parish seat, was named for John Ray, a politician from Monroe with large land holdings in present-day Rayville. Richland Parish is home to the first public parish library in the State of Louisiana, the Rhymes Memorial Library. The library was built in 1925 by the Lambda Kappa Club of Rayville. R.R. Rhymes donated the original building in memory of his wife, Nonnie Roark Rhymes.

Geography

Bayou Macon flows through the eastern areas of Richland. Other tributaries in the parish include Crew Lake, and the Lafourche Diversion Canal are located in the western portion of the parish.

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 ...

flows from the northern end to the southern end in the center of the parish.

Adjacent parishes

* Morehouse Parish (north) * West Carroll Parish (northeast) * East Carroll Parish (east) * Madison Parish (east) * Franklin Parish (south) * Caldwell Parish (southwest) * Ouachita Parish (west)

Parks and wildlife management areas

* Poverty Point Reservoir State Park * Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area

Communities

Towns

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

* Rayville (parish seat and largest municipality)

Village

* Mangham

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated place

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

Unincorporated communities

Alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

* Archibald * Bardel * Bee Bayou * Buckner * Charlieville * Crew Lake * Dehlco * Dunn * Four Forks * Gilleyville * Girard * Holly Ridge * Jonesburg * Mitchiner * New Light *

Rhymes A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciously used for a musica ...

* Sacksonia *

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

Transportation

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 20,043 people, 7,459 households, and 4,972 families residing in the parish.

Education

Public schools

* Delhi Elementary * Delhi Junior High * Delhi High School * Holly Ridge Elementary * Mangham Elementary * Mangham Junior High * Mangham High School * Rayville Elementary * Rayville Junior High * Rayville, High School * Start Elementary

Private schools

* Riverfield Academy, K–12

Charter schools

* Delhi Charter, K–12

Community and technical colleges

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, ...

, (with campus locations in neighboring Tallulah, Winnsboro, Lake Providence, Bastrop, Monroe, and West Monroe.)

Regional universities

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

, (Ruston) * Grambling State University, (Grambling)

Government

Notable people

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 ...

, from

, elected Member of Congress in the United States House of Representatives. * Luke Letlow, from

, elected to the United States House of Representatives, but died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

caused by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

before he could be seated. * Ralph Abraham, from

, elected Member of Congress in

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 ...

. * Harry W. Addison was a Southern author and humorist who resided in Rayville from 1945 to 1957. * Jamar Adcock, a politician and banker in Monroe, born in Richland Parish * Terry Doughty, is a federally appointed judge for the Western District of Louisiana. *

Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

basketball player, born in Rayville * Arlene Howell, Miss Louisiana USA 1958, Miss USA 1958 * Ralph E. King, Winnsboro physician who represented Richland Parish in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

from 1944 to 1952 and again from 1956 to 1960 *

William L. Kirk William Leslie Kirk (July 11, 1932 – April 26, 2017) was a Military star ranking, four-star General (United States), general in the United States Air Force (USAF). He served as Commander in Chief, United States Air Forces in Europe/Commande ...

, of Rayville was a United States Air Force four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, U.S. Air Forces in Europe/Commander, Allied Air Forces Central Europe. * Ernie Ladd, a football player/professional wrestler, born in Rayville * Moses J. Liddell was appointed by President Grover Cleveland as a judge for the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of the

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries ...

. * Wiley Person Mangham, an American publisher and editor. He is the namesake for t *

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

musician, born in

, and raised in

* Robert Max Ross, was a Republican politician and activist who qualified to run for governor, U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House, for the purpose of advancing the two-party system in Louisiana, at a time it did not exist. * Francis C. Thompson served in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

from 1975 until 2008; since in the

File:Tim McGraw.jpg,

, a famous country musician. File:Ralph Abraham official congressional photo.jpg, Ralph Abraham, U.S. House of Representatives. File:Elvin Hayes 1975.jpeg,

, NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. File:Wiley Person Mangham2.jpg, Wiley Person Mangham, American Publisher and Editor.

Gallery

Image:Former Rayville High School, LA building IMG 0176.jpg, Former Rayville High School, operated by the Richland Parish School Board and originally designed by the

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

architect Edward F. Neild, was renovated into an apartment complex Image:Holly Ridge Elementary School, Holly Ridge, LA IMG 0178.jpg, Holly Ridge High School in Holly Ridge in rural Richland Parish Image:Veterans Memorial, Mangham, LA IMG 1290.JPG, Veteran's Memorial in Mangham Image:Rhymes Memorial Library, Rayville, LA IMG 0167.JPG, Rhymes Memorial Library in Rayville was the first parish wide public library in Louisiana. Image:Poverty Point Reservoir (2013) IMG 7439.JPG, Poverty Point Reservoir in Delhi. Image:Start, LA, Baptist Church IMG 0141.JPG, Start Baptist Church Image:Richland Parish Courthouse, Rayville, LA IMG 0153.JPG, Richland Parish Courthouse, in Rayville Image:Alto_Presbyterian_Church.jpg, Alto Presbyterian Church, built in 1873 Image:Richland Parish, LA, Detention Center IMG 0350.JPG, Richland Parish Detention Center near Alto, Louisiana Image:First Baptist Church, Delhi, LA IMG 0189.JPG, First Baptist Church in Delhi Image:Northeast Louisiana Veteran's Cemetery.jpg, Northeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery

Politics

References

External links

Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce

Richland Parish Assessor's Office
{{coord, 32.42, -91.76, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-LA_source:UScensus1990 Louisiana parishes 1868 establishments in Louisiana Populated places established in 1868