e-ReferenceDesk's College and 50 State Learning Resource Guide

Find Online Colleges

Find Campus Colleges

Louisiana State...

Louisiana

Louisiana Parishes

Click Image to Enlarge

Louisiana Parishes

Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes in the same way that 48 of the other states of the United States are divided into counties (Alaska is divided into boroughs and census areas).
On March 31, 1807, the territorial legislature divided the state into 19 parishes, without getting rid of the old counties (which continued to exist until 1845).In 1811, a constitutional convention organized the state into seven judicial districts, each consisting of groups of parishes. In 1816, the first official map of the state used the term, as did the 1845 constitution. Since then, the official term has been parishes.

Jackson Parish, Louisiana

Jackson Parish History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Jonesboro
Year Organized: 1845
Square Miles: 570

Court House:

500 East Court Street
Parish Courthouse Building
Jonesboro, LA 71251-3439

Etymology - Origin of Parish Name

The parish was named in honor of U.S. President Andrew Jackson.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Jackson Parish was created on 1845, from Claiborne, Ouachita and Union Parishes and the parish was named in honor of U.S. President Andrew Jackson. The Parish seat is Jonesboro. A courthouse fire in Vernon, before the parish seat was moved to Jonesboro, destroyed most of the records prior to then. The first courthouse, built in Jonesboro in 1912, was almost completely destroyed by an explosion. Fortunately few, if any, of our records were destroyed.

A small log cabin was constructed to serve as the first courthouse in the town of Vernon. When the seat of justice was transferred to Jonesboro, a courthouse was constructed, but 30 years later it was completely destroyed due to a mysterious explosion. The current courthouse was completed in 1938 and has a jail on the top floor.

Neighboring Parishes:

Northeast: Ouachita Parish
Southeast: Caldwell Parish
South: Winn Parish
West: Bienville Parish
Northwest: Lincoln Parish

Cities and Towns:

- Chatham	town	Incorporated Area
- East Hodge	village	Incorporated Area
- Eros	town	Incorporated Area
- Hodge	village	Incorporated Area
- Jonesboro (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- North Hodge	village	Incorporated Area
- Quitman	village	Incorporated Area

Parish Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."