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Assumption Parish
Parish
St. Anne Catholic Church in Napoleonville
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 29°54′N 91°04′W / 29.9°N 91.06°W / 29.9; -91.06
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Founded	1807
Named for	Assumption Roman Catholic Church
Seat	Napoleonville
Largest community	Pierre Part
Area
• Total	365 sq mi (950 km)
• Land	339 sq mi (880 km)
• Water	26 sq mi (70 km)  7.1%
Population
• Total	21,039
• Density	58/sq mi (22/km)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	2nd, 6th
Website	www.assumptionla.com

Assumption Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Assomption, Spanish: Parroquia de la Asunción) 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 Territory of Orleans.

Assumption Parish is one of the twenty-two Acadiana parishes. Its major product is sugar cane. In proportion to its area, Assumption Parish produces the most sugar of any parish of Louisiana.

History

In 1807, Assumption became the eighth parish of the Orleans Territory. Its history is rooted in its waterways and its large expanse of fertile soils ideal for farming. Settled in the middle 18th century by French and Spanish settlers, the area retains strong cultural ties to its past with conversational French still common among residents. Assumption was also a final destination for many of the French Acadians exiled from Nova Scotia between 1755 and 1764.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 365 square miles (950 km), of which 339 square miles (880 km) is land and 26 square miles (67 km) (7.1%) is water.

Major highways

• Future Interstate 49
• U.S. Highway 90
• Louisiana Highway 1
• Louisiana Highway 70
• Louisiana Highway 182
• Louisiana Highway 308

Adjacent parishes

• Iberville Parish (north)
• Ascension Parish (north)
• St. James Parish (northeast)
• Lafourche Parish (east)
• Terrebonne Parish (southeast)
• St. Mary Parish (southwest)
• Iberia Parish (northwest)
• St. Martin Parish (west)

Communities

Village

• Napoleonville (parish seat and only municipality)

Census-designated places

• Bayou Corne
• Bayou L'Ourse
• Belle Rose
• Labadieville
• Paincourtville
• Pierre Part
• Supreme

Other unincorporated communities

• Albemarle
• Belle Alliance
• Belle River
• Bruly St. Martin
• Cancienne
• Foley
• Klotzville
• Plattenville
• Westfield
• Wildwood
• Woodlawn

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 21,039 people, 8,552 households, and 5,484 families residing in the parish. During the 2010 United States census, there were 23,421 people living in the parish. Among its 2010 population, 66.8% were White, 30.5% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.0% of some other race and 0.9% of two or more races. 2.1% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 38.2% were of French, French Canadian or Cajun and 9.4% American ancestry.

Education

The Assumption Parish School Board operates local public schools. Assumption High School serves the whole parish. There is one private school in the parish, Saint Elizabeth School, which was founded in 1834.

• Assumption High School
• Bayou L'Ourse Primary School
• Belle Rose Middle School
• Belle Rose Primary School
• Labadieville Middle School
• Labadieville Primary School
• Napoleonville Middle School
• Napoleonville Primary School
• Pierre Part Elementary School
• Saint Elizabeth School

National Guard

The 928th Sapper Company, a unit of the 769th Engineer Battalion and the 225th Engineer Brigade.

Politics

Assumption Parish is represented in the Louisiana House of Representatives by Beryl Amedee, a Republican, and Chad Brown, a Democrat. During the "Solid South" era, conflicts over trade policy often caused Assumption Parish to deviate somewhat from overwhelming Democratic support, as did rebellion in the Acadiana region against Woodrow Wilson's perceived hostility towards France.

Since the Dixiecrat revolt, by contrast, Assumption has been a typical rural South Louisiana parish in its political behaviour. It backed Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948 and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 before showing powerful pro-Catholic behaviour in 1960 and then turning powerfully against liberal Midwestern Democrats in 1968 and 1972. With the nomination of the more centrist Southerner Jimmy Carter in 1976, Assumption became again Democratic leaning until the 2000s, when, like all of the rural white South, it has turned powerfully Republican.

Notable people

• Kim Willoughby, American indoor volleyball player, 2008 U.S. volleyball Olympian, former University of Hawaii volleyball player, 2003 AVCA NCAA National Player of the Year
• Charles Melançon, former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives
• Troy E. Brown, a former member of the Louisiana State Senate
• Brandon Jacobs, two-time Super bowl winner, former running back for the New York Giants
• Johnny Meads, is a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League Houston Oilers Washington Redskins
• J. E. Jumonville Sr., was a businessman, farmer, and horse breeder born in Paincourtville state senator
• Samuel A. LeBlanc I, was a lawyer from Napoleonville born in Paincourtville in Assumption Parish
• Whitmell P. Martin, was a U.S. Representative from Assumption Parish Louisiana from 1915 to 1929.

See also

• Bayou Corne sinkhole
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Assumption Parish, Louisiana
• Isleños in Louisiana#Valenzuela
• Troy E. Brown
• Samuel A. LeBlanc I
• J. E. Jumonville Sr.

References

1. "Census - Geography Profile: Assumption Parish, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. "Assumption Parish". Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
4. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
5. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
6. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
7. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
8. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
9. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
10. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
11. "American FactFinder"
12. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 211 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
13. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 222
14. Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, The New York Times, April 24, 2014
15. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 6, 2018.

v t e Places adjacent to Assumption Parish, Louisiana
Iberia Parish Iberville Parish and Ascension Parish St. James Parish St. Martin Parish Assumption Parish, Louisiana Lafourche Parish St. Mary Parish Terrebonne Parish

v t e Municipalities and communities of Assumption Parish, Louisiana, United States
Parish seat: Napoleonville
Village	Napoleonville
CDPs	Bayou Corne Bayou L'Ourse Belle Rose Cancienne Labadieville Paincourtville Pierre Part Supreme
Other unincorporated communities	Belle Alliance Belle River Plattenville
Louisiana portal United States portal

v t e Parishes of Louisiana
Current	Acadia Allen Ascension Assumption Avoyelles Beauregard Bienville Bossier Caddo Calcasieu Caldwell Cameron Catahoula Claiborne Concordia DeSoto East Baton Rouge East Carroll East Feliciana Evangeline Franklin Grant Iberia Iberville Jackson Jefferson Jefferson Davis LaSalle Lafayette Lafourche Lincoln Livingston Madison Morehouse Natchitoches Orleans Ouachita Plaquemines Pointe Coupee Rapides Red River Richland Sabine St. Bernard St. Charles St. Helena St. James St. John the Baptist St. Landry St. Martin St. Mary St. Tammany Tangipahoa Tensas Terrebonne Union Vermilion Vernon Washington Webster West Baton Rouge West Carroll West Feliciana Winn
Former	Counties Acadia Attakapas Biloxi Concordia German Coast Iberville LaFourche Natchitoches Opelousas Orleans Ouachita Pascagoula Pointe Coupée Rapides Warren Split Carroll Feliciana

29°54′N 91°04′W / 29.90°N 91.06°W / 29.90; -91.06

• Louisiana parishes
• Assumption Parish, Louisiana
• Parishes in Acadiana
• Acadiana
• 1807 establishments in the Territory of Orleans
• Populated places established in 1807