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.
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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.
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln mentioned Assumption Parish in the Emancipation Proclamation as a confederate parish.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 365 square miles (950 km2), of which 339 square miles (880 km2) is land and 26 square miles (67 km2) (7.1%) is water.
Major highways
Future Interstate 49
U.S. Highway 90
Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 69
Louisiana Highway 70
Louisiana Highway 182
Louisiana Highway 308
Louisiana Highway 398
Louisiana Highway 400
Louisiana Highway 401
Louisiana Highway 402
Louisiana Highway 403
Louisiana Highway 662
Louisiana Highway 663
Louisiana Highway 996
Louisiana Highway 998
Louisiana Highway 999
Louisiana Highway 1000
Louisiana Highway 1001
Louisiana Highway 1003
Louisiana Highway 1004
Louisiana Highway 1005
Louisiana Highway 1006
Louisiana Highway 1007
Louisiana Highway 1008
Louisiana Highway 1010
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 Hawaiʻi 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.