St. James 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 ...

. 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 ...

Convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. The parish was created in 1807. St. James Parish is a part of the New Orleans–Metairie, Louisiana metropolitan statistical area, sitting between New Orleans and Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River. According to the 2020 United States census, the population was 20,192.

History

St. James is one of the state's nineteen original parishes, created by act of the

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

legislature, March 31, 1807. The original seat of government was the community of St. James, on the west bank of the

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 ...

, but this was moved in 1869 to what is now

, on the east bank. St. James Parish is part of the

Acadian Coast The Acadian Coast is a name which is applied by historians to the section of Louisiana along the Mississippi River that was settled by the exiled Acadians, beginning in 1764. While applying particularly to the present Saint James Parish, the term ...

. While it is possible that some

Acadians The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French colonial empire, French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern Americ ...

did arrive prior to 1755 or between 1755 and 1764, the first documented group of Acadians families: 20 individualsarrived in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in February 1764. The arrival was documented in a letter dated April 6, 1764, from Governor D'Abbadie to his superior in France. They were settled along the Mississippi River in present-day St. James. St. James is known for its tradition, Bonfires on the Levee, which takes place every

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

. Residents build large

bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling i ...

s along the River

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

, lighting them all at nightfall. The townsfolk tell the children that the purpose of this tradition is so Papa Noel can easily see his way down the Mississippi as he is delivering gifts. St. James is the only cultivation site in the world for

Perique Perique () is a type of tobacco from Saint James Parish, Louisiana, known for its strong, powerful, and fruity aroma. When the Acadians made their way into this region in 1776, the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes were cultivating a variety of tobac ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, introduced by an Acadian exile, Pierre Chenet, whose nickname was "Perique." It has been produced by his descendants for nearly two centuries (now covering only a tract) and is in great demand by large tobacco companies. PaulinaLouisianaPostOffice1938

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 (6.4%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest parish in Louisiana by land area and second-smallest by total area.

Major highways

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

* U.S. Highway 61 * Louisiana Highway 18 * Louisiana Highway 20 * Louisiana Highway 44 * Louisiana Highway 70 ( Sunshine Bridge across

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 ...

) * Louisiana Highway 3127 * Louisiana Highway 3213 (Gramercy Bridge across Mississippi River)

Adjacent parishes

Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (; ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created in 1807. Ascension Parish is part of the Baton Rouge metr ...

(north) * St. John the Baptist Parish (east) * Lafourche Parish (south) *

Assumption Parish Assumption Parish (, ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,039. Its parish seat is Napoleonville. Assumption Parish was established in 1807, as one of the original parishes of the ...

(west)

Communities

Towns

* Gramercy * Lutcher (largest town)

Census-designated places

(parish seat) * Grand Point * Hester * Lemannville *

Moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

* North Vacherie * Paulina * Romeville * South Vacherie * St. James * Union *

Welcome A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. Overview In ...

Other unincorporated community

* Vacherie

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 20,192 people, 7,719 households, and 5,732 families residing in the parish. Its racial and ethnic makeup in 2020 was 49.11% non-Hispanic white, 46.98% Black and African American, 0.145 Native American, 0.14% Asian, 1.93% other or mixed race, and 1.7% Hispanic or Latin American of any race. In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup was 48.2%

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 ...

, 49.6% Black and African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.4% two or more races, and 1.7% Hispanic or Latin American of any race. At the 2010 census, the racial and ethnic composition of the parish was 50.6% Black or African American, 48.0%

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 ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.4% of some other race and 0.7% of two or more races. 1.2% were Hispanic or Latin American (of any race). An estimated 15.2% of the parish were of French ancestry at the 2019 census estimates. In 2000, 93.78% of the population spoke only English at home, while 4.97% spoke French or

Cajun French Louisiana French (Louisiana French: ''français louisianais''; ) includes the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisiana French is primarily use ...

. There were 7,719 households and 8,919 housing units in 2019, and the median household income was $51,603; the median housing value was $158,500 and the median rent was $644. From 2015 to 2019, the parish had a poverty rate of 17.0%. In 2000, the median income for a household in the parish was $35,277, and the median income for a family was $41,751. Males had a median income of $37,487 versus $21,712 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 $14,381. 20.70% of the population and 18.00% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 27.70% are under the age of 18 and 15.10% are 65 or older. 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

Roman 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 ...

dominated the parish, with

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 area's predominant religion since colonization. Roman Catholics numbered 19,342 while the National Baptist Convention of the United States of America had 2,180 members. Non/inter-denominational Protestants among the congregationalist,

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, and United and Uniting churches numbered 1,060.

Racial / Ethnic Profile of places in St. James Parish, Louisiana

Economy

Approximately 85% of reported air pollution in the parish is produced by industries located in two small majority African American communities:

and St James. These include the Shell Convent Refinery, an Occidental Chemical Factory, American Styrenics, and Mosaic Fertilizer. Formosa Plastic Group plans to build a $9.4 billion petrochemical plant in the parish. The proposed plant site includes a plantation and the graves of enslaved people. The project has become the focal point of an

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

protest because of the expectant rise in pollution and the disrespect of the historic nature of the land involved.

Education

St. James Parish Public Schools serves all of St. James Parish.

Politics

The current parish president is Peter “Pete” Dufresne ( D), who took office at the beginning of 2020. In 2016, his predecessor Timmy Roussel was indicted on corruption charges, when he was accused of having parish employees build a private natural gas line. St. James Parish has been strongly Democratic for a century. However,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

performed well during his two campaigns, coming within ten points of carrying the parish in 2016 and within five points in 2020. Trump would later win the parish in the 2024 election, the first Republican to do so since 1972. The last Republican to win a majority of the parish's vote until 2024 was

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

in 1920, when Louisiana's

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

population revolted against

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

because of his bitter disagreement with French President

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...

.Phillips, Kevin P.; ''The Emerging Republican Majority'', p. 211 Dwight D. Eisenhower won a 17-vote plurality in 1956, and Richard Nixon also won a plurality in his 2,900-plus-county 1972 landslide.

References

External links

St. James Parish government's website

St. James High School Wildcats

Explore the History and Culture of Southeastern Louisiana, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary

St. James Paris Sheriff's Office
Geology * McCulloh, R. P., P. V. Heinrich, and J. Snead, 2003
''Ponchatoula 30 x 60 minute geologic quadrangle.''
Louisiana Geological Survey,

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 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 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James Parish, Louisiana Louisiana parishes New Orleans metropolitan area Acadiana Louisiana parishes on the Mississippi River 1807 establishments in the Territory of Orleans Populated places established in 1807 Majority-minority parishes in Louisiana