Union Parish, Louisiana | |
|---|---|
| Parish of Union Paroisse de l'Union (French) | |
 Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofLouisiana | |
 Louisiana's location within theU.S. | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Louisiana |
| Region | North Louisiana |
| Founded | March 13, 1839 |
| Named after | Union of American states |
| Parish seat(and largest town) | Farmerville |
| Area | |
• Total | 905 sq mi (2,340 km2) |
| • Land | 877 sq mi (2,270 km2) |
| • Water | 28 sq mi (73 km2) |
| • percentage | 3.06 sq mi (7.9 km2) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 21,107 |
| • Density | 24.1/sq mi (9.29/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code | 318 |
| Congressional district | 4th |
Union Parish (French:Paroisse de l'Union) is aparish located in the north central section of theU.S. state ofLouisiana. As of the2020 census, the population was 21,107.[1] Theparish seat isFarmerville.[2] The parish was created on March 13, 1839, from a section of Ouachita Parish. Its boundaries have changed four times since then (in 1845, 1846, 1867, and 1873, respectively).[3]
Union Parish is part of theMonroe, LAMetropolitan Statistical Area.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 905 square miles (2,340 km2), of which 877 square miles (2,270 km2) is land and 28 square miles (73 km2) (3.1%) is water.[4]
Geographically north central Louisiana, Union Parish more closely resembles Lincoln Parish, to which Union is deeply tied culturally, politically, and educationally.[citation needed] Union Parish, along with Lincoln Parish to the southwest and Union County, Arkansas to the north, form the eastern boundary of theArk-La-Tex region.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 | 1,838 | — | |
| 1850 | 8,203 | 346.3% | |
| 1860 | 10,389 | 26.6% | |
| 1870 | 11,685 | 12.5% | |
| 1880 | 13,526 | 15.8% | |
| 1890 | 17,304 | 27.9% | |
| 1900 | 18,520 | 7.0% | |
| 1910 | 20,451 | 10.4% | |
| 1920 | 19,621 | −4.1% | |
| 1930 | 20,731 | 5.7% | |
| 1940 | 20,943 | 1.0% | |
| 1950 | 19,141 | −8.6% | |
| 1960 | 17,624 | −7.9% | |
| 1970 | 18,447 | 4.7% | |
| 1980 | 21,167 | 14.7% | |
| 1990 | 20,690 | −2.3% | |
| 2000 | 22,803 | 10.2% | |
| 2010 | 22,721 | −0.4% | |
| 2020 | 21,107 | −7.1% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[6] 1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8] 1990-2000[9] 2010[10] | |||
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 1980[11] | Pop 1990[12] | Pop 2000[13] | Pop 2010[14] | Pop 2020[15] | % 1980 | % 1990 | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 14,854 | 14,775 | 15,772 | 15,398 | 14,289 | 70.18% | 71.41% | 69.17% | 67.77% | 67.70% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 6,112 | 5,742 | 6,355 | 6,153 | 4,980 | 28.88% | 27.75% | 27.87% | 27.08% | 23.59% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 18 | 18 | 40 | 53 | 59 | 0.09% | 0.09% | 0.18% | 0.23% | 0.28% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 14 | 22 | 58 | 31 | 38 | 0.07% | 0.11% | 0.25% | 0.14% | 0.18% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | x[16] | x[17] | 11 | 16 | 6 | x | x | 0.05% | 0.07% | 0.03% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 5 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 30 | 0.02% | 0.00% | 0.04% | 0.01% | 0.14% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | x[18] | x[19] | 98 | 125 | 570 | x | x | 0.43% | 0.55% | 2.70% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 164 | 133 | 461 | 943 | 1,135 | 0.77% | 0.64% | 2.02% | 4.15% | 5.38% |
| Total | 21,167 | 20,690 | 22,803 | 22,721 | 21,107 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the2020 census, Union Parish had a population of 21,107 and 4,899 families, and the median age was 44.9 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.9 males age 18 and over.[20]
There were 8,759 households in the parish, of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.8% were married-couple households, 20.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[20]
The racial makeup of the parish was 68.5%White, 23.7%Black or African American, 0.4%American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Asian, <0.1%Native Hawaiian andPacific Islander, 3.4% from some other race, and 3.8% fromtwo or more races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 5.4% of the population.[21]
<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.[22]
There were 10,334 housing units, of which 15.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 78.7% were owner-occupied and 21.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.8%.[20]
Located in far northern Louisiana next to theArkansas state line, Union Parish is heavilyRepublican in most competitive elections, particularly at the presidential level, last voting for aDemocratic presidential nominee in1952 whenAdlai Stevenson received 52% of the vote. In the most recent election in 2020, incumbentPresidentDonald Trump received 8,407 votes (75.1 percent) of the parish total to 2,654 (23.7 percent) for formerVice PresidentJoe Biden.[23]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1912 | 11 | 1.39% | 696 | 87.66% | 87 | 10.96% |
| 1916 | 22 | 1.95% | 1,106 | 97.96% | 1 | 0.09% |
| 1920 | 98 | 7.43% | 1,221 | 92.57% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 7 | 0.79% | 875 | 99.09% | 1 | 0.11% |
| 1928 | 422 | 27.97% | 1,085 | 71.90% | 2 | 0.13% |
| 1932 | 58 | 2.48% | 2,285 | 97.52% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 272 | 13.27% | 1,778 | 86.73% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 371 | 11.55% | 2,842 | 88.45% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1944 | 803 | 31.27% | 1,765 | 68.73% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 259 | 9.07% | 724 | 25.35% | 1,873 | 65.58% |
| 1952 | 1,894 | 47.96% | 2,055 | 52.04% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 1,384 | 40.49% | 878 | 25.69% | 1,156 | 33.82% |
| 1960 | 2,017 | 49.64% | 1,034 | 25.45% | 1,012 | 24.91% |
| 1964 | 4,534 | 79.70% | 1,155 | 20.30% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 1,113 | 16.50% | 1,336 | 19.80% | 4,297 | 63.70% |
| 1972 | 4,322 | 70.20% | 1,465 | 23.79% | 370 | 6.01% |
| 1976 | 4,139 | 52.36% | 3,600 | 45.54% | 166 | 2.10% |
| 1980 | 5,130 | 55.77% | 3,841 | 41.76% | 227 | 2.47% |
| 1984 | 6,585 | 67.73% | 2,916 | 29.99% | 222 | 2.28% |
| 1988 | 5,900 | 62.97% | 3,210 | 34.26% | 259 | 2.76% |
| 1992 | 4,434 | 44.04% | 4,005 | 39.78% | 1,630 | 16.19% |
| 1996 | 4,418 | 46.30% | 4,260 | 44.64% | 865 | 9.06% |
| 2000 | 5,772 | 61.78% | 3,205 | 34.30% | 366 | 3.92% |
| 2004 | 7,457 | 69.57% | 3,089 | 28.82% | 172 | 1.60% |
| 2008 | 7,619 | 70.10% | 3,103 | 28.55% | 146 | 1.34% |
| 2012 | 7,561 | 70.23% | 3,075 | 28.56% | 130 | 1.21% |
| 2016 | 7,972 | 73.18% | 2,691 | 24.70% | 231 | 2.12% |
| 2020 | 8,407 | 75.06% | 2,654 | 23.69% | 140 | 1.25% |
| 2024 | 8,176 | 78.05% | 2,206 | 21.06% | 93 | 0.89% |
Residents are assigned toUnion Parish Public Schools.
| Union Parish Sheriff's Office | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | UPSO |
| Motto | Service Before Self |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1839 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Farmerville, Louisiana |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | |
| http://www.unionsheriff.com/ | |
The Union Parish Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency ofUnion Parish,Louisiana. It is headquartered in Farmerville. The current[as of?] Sheriff of Union Parish is Dusty Gates, who was first sworn as the sheriff following long time Sheriff Bob Buckley's death in September 2013.[25]
In 1931, a monument was erected at the Union Parish border withUnion County, Arkansas. In 1975,State RepresentativeLouise B. Johnson passed a law to refurbish the monument. The completed restoration was unveiled in 2009.[26]
Two Louisiana governors came from the Shiloh Community in Union Parish:
Two Arkansas governors were natives of Union Parish:
Other Union Parish residents have included:
Many facts concerning events in early Union Parish history come from the conveyance, probate, and lawsuit records on file in the Union Parish courthouse, as well as records of the United States Land Offices available in the National Archives. Other sources include:
1) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Spanish Poste d’Ouachita: The Ouachita Valley in Colonial Louisiana 1783–1804, and Early American Statehood, 1804–1820, Williams Genealogical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1995.
2) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Oe A – K, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1996.
3) Williams, E. Russ, Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Two L – O, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1997.
4) Williams, Max Harrison, Union Parish (Louisiana) Historical Records: Police Jury Minutes, 1839–1846, D’Arbonne Research and Publishing Co., Farmerville, LA, 1993.
Places adjacent to Union Parish, Louisiana | |
|---|---|
Municipalities and communities ofUnion Parish, Louisiana,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Towns |  | |
| Villages | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent parish or parishes | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
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