Farmerville, Louisiana

Town of Farmerville
Town
Welcome sign at Farmerville
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Union
Elevation	171 ft (52.1 m)
Coordinates	32°46′25″N 92°24′15″W
Area	5.6 sq mi (14.5 km2)
- land	5.5 sq mi (14 km2)
- water	0.1 sq mi (0 km2), 1.79%
Population	3,808 (2000)
Density	691.7 / sq mi (267.1 / km2)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code	318
Location of Farmerville in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States
Website: http://www.farmerville.org

Farmerville (French: Fermierville) is a town in and the parish seat of Union Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,808 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is spread about Lake D'Arbonne, a popular fishing and boating waterway.

Lake D'Arbonne at Farmerville

A look at downtown Farmerville across from the Union Parish Courthouse

Farmerville Town Hall

First Baptist Church of Farmerville, with brass dome steeple

"Doc" Elliott Stadium, home of the Farmerville Farmers

The Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing and protein conversion plant in Farmerville was slated for closure early in 2009, along with other company operations in nearby Arcadia in Bienville Parish, Athens in Claiborne Parish, and Choudrant in Union Parish. The closures impacted some 1,300 jobs in North Louisiana. Several weeks later, however, Pilgrim's Pride accepted an $80 million offer from Foster Farms of California to purchase the operations. In addition, to the 1,300 direct jobs, the purchase spares the small farms of some three hundred independent growers. Foster Farms put up $40 million and the State of Louisiana a matching $40 million. Foster Farms will further invest $10 million in capital improvements at the Farmerville plant, to be matched by the state, in an agreement announced by Governor Bobby Jindal.

Geography

Farmerville is located at 32°46′25″N 92°24′15″W (32.773736, -92.404257).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.6 square miles (15 km²), of which, 5.5 square miles (14 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.72%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,808 people, 1,366 households, and 932 families residing in the town. The population density was 691.7 people per square mile (266.8/km²). There were 1,554 housing units at an average density of 282.3 per square mile (108.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 34.03% White, 63.52% African American, 0.03% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.23% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.71% of the population.

There were 1,366 households out of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples living together, 28.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $23,598, and the median income for a family was $26,756. Males had a median income of $26,798 versus $19,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,258. About 23.3% of families and 30.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.3% of those under age 18 and 27.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Residents are assigned to Union Parish Public Schools.

• Farmerville Elementary School
• Farmerville Junior High School
• Farmerville High School
• Union Christian Academy
• Darbonne Woods Charter School

Notable people

• Donovan Chapman, Country music artist
• Hollis Downs, retiring state representative from Lincoln and Union parishes, born in Farmerville in 1946
• James Walter Elder, was a member of the United States House of Representatives and a mayor of Farmerville
• William C. Feazel, interim U.S. Senator in 1948; member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Ouachita Parish from 1932–1936; father-in-law of former state Representative Shady R. Wall of West Monroe
• K.D. Kilpatrick, mortician and former member of the Louisiana State Senate
• Fred Preaus (1912–1987), automobile dealer and timber businessman in Farmerville, state highway director (1952–1955), gubernatorial candidate in 1956
• Don Shows, championship football coach, formerly at Farmerville High School
• Lee Emmett Thomas (1866–1935), the mayor of Shreveport from 1922–1930 and Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1912–1916, practiced law in Farmerville from 1889-1896.

• Harvey G. Fields, graduate of Louisiana Tech University and Tulane University Law School. Town Alderman, 1904, Louisiana State Senator 1916-1920, District Attorney 1920-1924, Chairman of the Louisiana State Democratic Central Committee, four-time delegate to the Democratic National Convention 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, Democratic National Convention Rules Committee Member 1945, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner 1928-1936 (PSC chairman 1932-1936), Federal Prosecutor for the Western District of Louisiana 1937-1941, Chairman of the Ouachita Valley Farmers Association, Law partner of Huey Long and Earl Long and Robert O'Neal. 52-year member of the Union Parish bar association. Visitor to the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925.

• Nick White, co-host of Fox and Company on ESPN 97.7 FM and play by play commentator for University of Louisiana-Monroe Basketball

External links

• Town of Farmerville
• Farmerville Progress Community Progress Site for Farmerville, LA