Franklinton, Louisiana

The town of Franklinton is the parish seat of Washington Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. The population was 3,657 at the 2000 census. It is an average of 155 feet above sea level.

Located 61 miles north of New Orleans, the town's name is pronounced locally as "Frank-lin-ton" or "Frank-il-ton."

History

Franklinton was founded in 1819, originally under the name of Franklin, but in 1826 the name was changed to Franklinton since there was already another town with the same name in St. Mary Parish. In 1826, representatives and citizens from both communities showed up at the state capitol in Baton Rouge to state their cases to keep the name "Franklin". A compromise was reached by the Louisiana Legislature, allowing Franklin in St. Mary Parish to retain its name, while Washington Parish's parish seat would be known as Franklinton.

Franklinton became the parish seat of Washington Parish on February 10, 1821, two years after the parish was carved out from St. Tammany Parish.

The town's economy is based heavily on agriculture, forestry and some commercial industry.

Geography

Franklinton is located at (30.848501, -90.149983).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.9 km² (4.2 mi²). 10.7 km² (4.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.95%) is water.

Coincidentally, the ZIP code of Franklinton, Louisiana is 70438: quite similar to Franklin's 70538.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,657 people, 1,366 households, and 878 families residing in the town. The population density was 341.1/km² (882.8/mi²). There were 1,536 housing units at an average density of 143.2/km² (370.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 47.01% White, 51.87% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.19% Asian, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.49% of the population.

There were 1,366 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.9% were married couples living together, 21.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $20,955, and the median income for a family was $27,957. Males had a median income of $25,268 versus $16,337 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,273. About 24.0% of families and 31.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.3% of those under age 18 and 28.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable Franklinton Residents or Natives

Mayor Earl Brown
Donald George, European opera tenor
Judge William "Rusty" Knight
Steward Varnado, well-known gospel performer. Varnado graduated from Bowling Green High School in 1998 and now travels the world as one of Contemporary Christian music's most popular pianists.

Trivia

The Washington Parish Free Fair, said to be the largest free fair in the United States, is held in October of each year in Franklinton.

The book, "Dead Man Walking", and movie about the book, was based on a murder that took place just south of Franklinton at Frickie's Cave (aka Frickie's Gourge).

External links