Union Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Union) is a parish located in the north central section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,107. The parish seat is Farmerville. The parish was created on March 13, 1839, from a section of Ouachita Parish. Its boundaries have changed four times since then (in 1845, 1846, 1867, and 1873, respectively).

Union Parish is part of the Monroe, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of , of which is land and (3.1%) is water.

Geographically north central Louisiana, Union Parish more closely resembles Lincoln Parish, to which Union is deeply tied culturally, politically, and educationally. Union Parish, along with Lincoln Parish to the southwest and Union County, Arkansas to the north, form the eastern boundary of the Ark-La-Tex region.

Major highways / U.S. Highway 63 / U.S. Highway 167 Louisiana Highway 2

Louisiana Highway 15 Louisiana Highway 33 Louisiana Highway 143 Louisiana Highway 145 Louisiana Highway 151 Louisiana Highway 348 Louisiana Highway 549 Louisiana Highway 550 Louisiana Highway 551 Louisiana Highway 552 Louisiana Highway 558 Louisiana Highway 826 Louisiana Highway 827 Louisiana Highway 828 Louisiana Highway 3121 Louisiana Highway 3281

Adjacent parishes and counties Union County, Arkansas (northwest) Ashley County, Arkansas (northeast) Morehouse Parish (east) Ouachita Parish (southeast) Lincoln Parish (southwest) Claiborne Parish (west)

National protected areas D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge (part) Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Communities Towns Bernice Farmerville (parish seat and largest municipality) Marion

Villages Conway Downsville Junction City Lillie Spearsville

Unincorporated communities Alabama Landing Oakland Ouachita City Point Shiloh Truxno

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Union Parish, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)14,85414,77515,77215,39814,28970.18%71.41%69.17%67.77%67.70%Black or African American alone (NH)6,1125,7426,3556,1534,98028.88%27.75%27.87%27.08%23.59%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)18184053590.09%0.09%0.18%0.23%0.28%Asian alone (NH)14225831380.07%0.11%0.25%0.14%0.18%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census11166xx0.05%0.07%0.03%Other race alone (NH)5082300.02%0.00%0.04%0.01%0.14%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census98125570xx0.43%0.55%2.70%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1641334619431,1350.77%0.64%2.02%4.15%5.38%Total21,16720,69022,80322,72121,107 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Union Parish had a population of 21,107 and 4,899 families, and the median age was 44.9 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.9 males age 18 and over.

There were 8,759 households in the parish, of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.8% were married-couple households, 20.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The racial makeup of the parish was 68.5% White, 23.7% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.4% from some other race, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 5.4% of the population.

<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 10,334 housing units, of which 15.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 78.7% were owner-occupied and 21.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.8%.

Politics Located in far northern Louisiana next to the Arkansas state line, Union Parish is heavily Republican in most competitive elections, particularly at the presidential level, last voting for a Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 when Adlai Stevenson received 52% of the vote.

School Residents are assigned to Union Parish Public Schools.

Law enforcement

The Union Parish Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency of Union Parish, Louisiana. It is headquartered in Farmerville. The current Sheriff of Union Parish is Dusty Gates, who was first sworn as the sheriff following long time Sheriff Bob Buckley's death in September 2013.

Border monument In 1931, a monument was erected at the Union Parish border with Union County, Arkansas. In 1975, State Representative Louise B. Johnson passed a law to refurbish the monument. The completed restoration was unveiled in 2009.

Notable people Two Louisiana governors came from the Shiloh Community in Union Parish: William Wright Heard, 1900–1904 Ruffin Pleasant, 1916–1920

Two Arkansas governors were natives of Union Parish: George Washington Donaghey, Governor of Arkansas from 1909 to 1913 Tom Jefferson Terral, Governor of Arkansas from 1925 to 1927

Other Union Parish residents have included: Lonnie O. Aulds, state representative from 1968 to 1972 George Washington Bolton (1841–1931), state representative from 1888 to 1896 from Alexandria Jay McCallum - Chief Judge of the Louisiana 3rd Judicial District Court"Louisiana: McCallum, Jay Bowen", Who's Who in American Politics, 2003-2004, 19th ed., Vol. 1 (Alabama-Montana) (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, NJ, 2003), p. 787 Lee Emmett Thomas, Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representative

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Union Parish, Louisiana Big Creek (Union Parish, LA)

Sources Many facts concerning events in early Union Parish history come from the conveyance, probate, and lawsuit records on file in the Union Parish courthouse, as well as records of the United States Land Offices available in the National Archives. Other sources include:

1) Williams, E. Russ Jr., Spanish Poste d’Ouachita: The Ouachita Valley in Colonial Louisiana 1783–1804, and Early American Statehood, 1804–1820, Williams Genealogical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1995.

2) Williams, E. Russ Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Oe A – K, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1996.

3) Williams, E. Russ Jr., Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley of Louisiana From 1785 to 1850: Organized into Family Groups with Miscellaneous Materials on Historical Events, Places, and Other Important Topics, Part Two L – O, Williams Genealogical and Historical Publications, Monroe, LA, 1997.

4) Williams, Max Harrison, Union Parish (Louisiana) Historical Records: Police Jury Minutes, 1839–1846, D’Arbonne Research and Publishing Co., Farmerville, LA, 1993.

References