Lincoln Parish

Lincoln Parish (French: Paroisse de Lincoln) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 46,735. The parish seat is Ruston. The parish was created on February 24, 1873 from parts of Bienville, Claiborne, Union, and Jackson parishes, and its boundaries have changed only once (in 1877). This makes Lincoln parish one of the Reconstruction parishes. Lincoln Parish (French: Paroisse de Lincoln) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 46,735. The parish seat is Ruston. The parish was created on February 24, 1873 from parts of Bienville, Claiborne, Union, and Jackson parishes, and its boundaries have changed only once (in 1877). This makes Lincoln parish one of the Reconstruction parishes. Lincoln Parish comprises the Ruston, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area. Since the late 20th century, archeologists have dated eleven sites in northern Louisiana where thousands of years ago, indigenous cultures built complexes with multiple, monumental earthwork mounds during the Middle Archaic period, long before the development of sedentary, agricultural societies. At sites such as Watson Brake, Frenchman's Bend, and Caney, generations of hunter-gatherers worked for hundreds of years to build and add to mound complexes. Hedgepeth Site, located in Lincoln Parish, is dated about 5200–4500 BP (about 3300–2600 BCE), from the latter part of this period. Such finds are changing the understanding of early human cultures. The parish was one of several new ones established by the state legislature during Reconstruction; in 1873 it was formed from land that had belonged to Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson and Union parishes to create one in which newly elected representatives might have more ties to the Republican Party. It was an attempt to break up the old order of political power, and to capitalize on the arrival of the railroad line. The parish is named for the late U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. In 1934, the historian Robert W. Mondy of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston completed a thesis entitled 'A History of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana' as part of the requirements for his master of arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Another Louisiana Tech faculty member, Robert C. Snyder, was instrumental in the establishment in 1962 of the Lincoln Parish Library. He served as the library board president for many years. Lincoln Parish is usually Republican in contested elections. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won the parish with 10,739 votes (56.5 percent) to U.S. President Barack H. Obama, the Democrat who polled 7,956 ballots (41.9 percent). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 472 square miles (1,220 km2), of which 472 square miles (1,220 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (0.2%) is water. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 46,735 people residing in the parish. 55.2% were White, 40.5% Black or African American, 1.7% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.3% of some other race and 1.1% of two or more races. 2.5% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). As of the census of 2000, there were 42,509 people, 15,235 households, and 9,689 families residing in the parish. The population density was 90 people per square mile (35/km²). There were 17,000 housing units at an average density of 36 per square mile (14/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 57.42% White, 39.84% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.28% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. 1.16% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.