Richland Parish, Louisiana


Richland Parish is a parish located in the North Louisiana Delta Country in the U.S. state of Louisiana, known for its fertile, flat farmland, cane brakes, and open spaces. The parish had a population of 20,043 at the 2020 United States census. The name Richland was chosen due to the rich production from farming. The parish seat and largest community is Rayville.
WWW rppjinfo.com

History

The parish was officially created on September 29, 1868. Rayville, Louisiana, the parish seat, was named for John Ray, a politician from Monroe with large land holdings in present-day Rayville.
Richland Parish is home to the first public parish library in the State of Louisiana, the Rhymes Memorial Library. The library was built in 1925 by the Lambda Kappa Club of Rayville. R.R. Rhymes donated the original building in memory of his wife, Nonnie Roark Rhymes.

Geography

Bayou Macon flows through the eastern areas of Richland. Other tributaries in the parish include Crew Lake, and the Lafourche Diversion Canal are located in the western portion of the parish. Boeuf River flows from the northern end to the southern end in the center of the parish.

Adjacent parishes

Parks and wildlife management areas

Communities

Towns

Village

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

Transportation

Interstates and State Highways
Interstate 20
U.S. Highway 80
U.S. Highway 425
Louisiana Highway 15
Louisiana Highway 17
Louisiana Highway 132
Louisiana Highway 133
Louisiana Highway 135
Louisiana Highway 585

Air, Rail, Levee
Monroe Regional Airport

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the parish had a population of 20,043, a median age of 40.4 years, with 23.3% of residents under the age of 18 and 18.0% of residents 65 years of age or older; for every 100 females there were 98.4 males and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.5 males age 18 and over.
There were 7,674 households in the parish, including 4,972 families; 32.4% had children under the age of 18, 42.4% were married-couple households, 18.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, 33.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present, 27.8% consisted of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The racial makeup of the parish was 58.8% White, 36.6% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.9% from some other race, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.0% of the population.
<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 8,628 housing units, of which 11.1% were vacant; 68.6% of occupied housing units were owner-occupied and 31.4% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.5%.

Education

Public schools

Private schools

  • Riverfield Academy, K–12

Charter schools

  • Delhi Charter, K–12

Community and technical colleges

Regional universities

Government

Parish Police JuryPolice Jurors
District 1, DelhiSteve Craig, Republican
District 2, DelhiPatrick Stubblefield, Democrat
District 3, RayvilleSharon Gee, Democrat
District 4, RayvilleSteve Lofton, Republican
District 5, RayvillePaul Slayter, Republican
District 6, RayvilleAlthan Smith, Democrat
District 7, AltoCecil Reddick, Republican
District 8, StartElliot Colvin, Republican
District 9, ManghamRoy Wiggins, Jr., Republican

5th Judicial DistrictParish Judicial Leaders
Division "A"Clay Hamilton, Republican
Division "B"Will Rhymes Barham, Republican
Division "C"Steve Dean, Republican
Clerk of Court

Parish School Board
District 1, DelhiBilly Calvert, No Party
District 2, DelhiEugene Young, Jr., Democrat
District 3, RayvilleMoses "DeJohn" Wilkins, Democrat
District 4, RayvilleJames Hough, Republican
District 5, RayvilleAlece Copeland, No Party
District 6, RayvilleMarie Lewis, Democrat
District 7, ArchibaldJoe Chapman, No Party
District 8, StartKevin Eppinette, No Party
District 9, ManghamChris Pruitt, Republican

Notable people