Mangham, Louisiana

Welcome sign to Mangham on United States Highway 425

Mangham Town Hall

First Baptist Church of Mangham

Memorial to Mangham High School veterans who died in World War II

Mangham is a village in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 595 at the 2000 census. Mangham was established in 1890. It is named for Wyley P. Mangham (died 1896), the publisher of the Richland Beacon-News, a weekly newspaper in Rayville, the seat of Richland Parish.

Geography

Mangham is located at 32°18′30″N 91°46′34″W (32.308304, -91.776225).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), all of it land.

The community straddles the border with Franklin Parish. Louisiana Highway 15 runs through Mangham.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1910	470		—
1920	462		−1.7%
1930	714		54.5%
1940	572		−19.9%
1950	554		−3.1%
1960	521		−6.0%
1970	544		4.4%
1980	867		59.4%
1990	598		−31.0%
2000	595		−0.5%
2010	672		12.9%
2014 (est.)	656		−2.4%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 595 people, 247 households, and 170 families residing in the town. The population density was 590.0 people per square mile (227.5/km²). There were 268 housing units at an average density of 265.7 per square mile (102.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 59.66% White, 39.83% African American, 0.17% Asian, and 0.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.34% of the population.

There were 247 households out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 27.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the town, the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 85.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $17,500, and the median income for a family was $23,558. Males had a median income of $22,273 versus $18,125 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,813. About 22.0% of families and 28.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.8% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public schools in Richland Parish are operated by the Richland Parish School Board. Three campuses serve the village of Mangham - Mangham Elementary School (Grades PK-5), Mangham Junior High School (Grades 6-8), and Mangham High School (Grades 9-12). The current principal of MHS is Connie Williams.

Notable people

• Delores Chapman Danley. Author of I Think I Heard a Rooster Crow, a collection of inspirational poems and devotionals, published in 2011 by Westbow Press.

• Noble Ellington is a former member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature, having served continuously from 1988 to 2012. He graduated in 1960 from Mangham High School.

• Robert Neal Harwell (born February 1944) is a commissioner of the Tensas Basin Levee District and the former Republican mayor of Mangham.

• Bennie McLain Hixon (June 21, 1923 – October 23, 2014), a former principal of Mangham High School, self-published The History of Mangham and the Big Creek—Boeuf River to 1940. He also penned columns for the Richland Beacon. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and served with the 14th Armored Division, which entered France at Marseilles in 1944 and became part of General George S. Patton's Third Army as it moved across Germany. In 1963, he relocated to Monroe to join the history faculty of Neville High School. After retiring from professional education in 1969, he became a Louisiana state employee.

• Dr. D. B. "Bruce" Magee (May 30, 1955). Former newscaster at KTVE-TV (El Dorado/Monroe) from 1979-1983. Former International beauty pageant emcee for Cinderella Scholarship Pageants (1979-1989);Former editor of College English (1989-1991); Co-author of Mosaics (a series of writing textbooks) published in 1998 by Prentice-Hall; professor of English at Fullerton College in Fullerton, California; 1973 graduate of Mangham High School

• Myrtis Methvin, mayor of Castor in Bienville Parish 1933 to 1945, second woman mayor in Louisiana; native of Attala County, Mississippi, resided in Mangham in her early years and is interred at Gwinn Cemetery

• Keith Munyan, commercial photographer in North Hollywood, California, reared in Mangham, son of Keith Owen Munyan, Sr.

• Keith Owen "Moose" Munyan, Sr. (September 6, 1932 – July 8, 1996), became the head football coach at Mangham High School in 1963 and held the position for twenty-seven years. Teams under Coach Munyan compiled an outstanding record of 204 wins, 78 losses, and 6 ties. He led his teams to sixteen district championships and was selected "District Coach of the Year" on eighteen occasions. Munyan held various offices with the Louisiana High School Coaches Association and was honored by the organization for twenty-five years of service.

• Frellsen Reese (March 19, 1919 – January 31, 2007) was a Republican former mayor of Mangham and a retired lieutenant colonel of the United States Army with service in both World War II and the Vietnam War.

• Robert Max Ross (August 5, 1933 – September 15, 2009) ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for Louisiana governor in 1971 and 1983, the United States Senate in 1984 and 1986, the Louisiana State Senate in 1972, and mayor of Mangham in 2002, when he was soundly defeated by Robert Neal Harwood, then a Democrat. Benny Hixon said that Ross, a businessman, was believed to have been the first active Republican in Mangham in the 20th century. Ross graduated from Mangham High School and Louisiana State University and was a former United States Air Force major. His obituary describes him as having been "instrumental in bringing about the first Republican gubernatorial primary election in the state of Louisiana" in November 1971, a nomination won by David C. Treen, then of Jefferson Parish. Ross died six weeks before the passing of Treen.

• Ralph Abraham (born September 16, 1954), veterinarian and physician elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014

External links

• Mangham Progress Community Progress Site for Mangham, LA