Cameron Parish, Louisiana

Cameron Parish, Louisiana
Map
Location in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1870
Seat	Cameron
Largest city	Cameron
Area - Total - Land - Water	1,932 sq mi (5,003 km²) 1,313 sq mi (3,401 km²) 619 sq mi (1,602 km²), 32.03%
Population - (2000) - Density	9,991 8/sq mi (3/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Named for: Secretary of War Simon Cameron

Cameron Parish (French: Paroisse de Cameron) is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron and as of 2000, the population was 9,991. It is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Cameron Parish is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Lake Charles–Jennings Combined Statistical Area.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Communities
- 4.1 Census-designated places
- 4.2 Other communities
5 Education
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

History

Organized in 1870, the Parish is named for Simon Cameron, a Pennsylvanian who was President Abraham Lincoln's first secretary of war.

Cameron Parish was devastated by Hurricane Audrey on June 27, 1957, causing over 390 deaths, and then again by Hurricane Rita on September 24, 2005, although the latter storm caused no deaths.

Geography

The parish has a total area of 1,932 square miles (5,003 km²), of which, 1,313 square miles (3,401 km²) of it is land and 619 square miles (1,602 km²) of it (32.03%) is water.

Major highways

Adjacent parishes

Calcasieu Parish (northwest)
Jefferson Davis Parish (northeast)
Vermilion Parish (east)
Gulf of Mexico (south)
Jefferson County, Texas (southwest)
Orange County, Texas (west)

National protected areas

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 9,991 people, 3,592 households, and 2,704 families residing in the parish. The population density was 8 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 5,336 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 93.65% White, 3.88% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.94% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 2.15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 11.57% reported speaking French or Cajun French at home, while 1.83% speak Spanish.[1]


Census	Pop.		%±
1900	3,952		—
1910	4,288		8.5%
1920	3,952		−7.8%
1930	6,054		53.2%
1940	7,203		19%
1950	6,244		−13.3%
1960	6,909		10.7%
1970	8,194		18.6%
1980	9,336		13.9%
1990	9,260		−0.8%
2000	9,991		7.9%
Est. 2006	7,792	^[2]	−22%
Cameron Parish Census Data^[3]

There were 3,592 households out of which 39.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.70% were non-families. 20.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the parish the population was spread out with 28.40% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.40 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $34,232, and the median income for a family was $39,663. Males had a median income of $31,167 versus $19,113 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $15,348. About 9.10% of families and 12.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.10% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.