Concordia Parish, Louisiana

Concordia Parish was the home to many successive Native American cultures for thousands of years before European encounter. Peoples of the Marksville culture, Troyville culture, Coles Creek culture and Plaquemine culture built villages and earthwork mound sites throughout the area. Notable examples include Cypress Grove Mound, DePrato Mounds, Frogmore Mound Site, and Lamarque Landing Mound.

Historic Native American tribes encountered by early French explorers and colonists were the following:

Concordia was named by Anglo-American settlers for a Latin word meaning "harmony". They came mostly after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, when the United States took over this formerly French colonial area west of the Mississippi. Like other parishes of the lands along the Mississippi River, in the antebellum era, the parish was developed for cotton cultivation on large plantations. The labor-intensive crop was profitable because of the labor of enslaved African Americans.

In 1789, Don Jose Vidal a resident of Natchez, MS and later the founder of the city of Vidalia, LA asked for land grants to move his family from Natchez to the other side of the Mississippi River. In Natchez, there was a mansion built called Concord (Natchez, Mississippi), this was a residence lived in by Spanish governors, also Vidal and his family lived there before the time era of the US began.

The Mansion started the name "Concord" and ultimately later led to the birth of what would be Concordia Parish. During the year of 1804, a ceremony of transfer was held and the citizens and Mayor of Natchez crossed over to the Louisiana side of the Mississippi to honor the new land that was founded. The Mansion was later struct by fire in the early 20th century (1901) and burned down. Natchez people also lived on both sides of the land.

"Concordia County" was a creation of the first Legislative Council held in New Orleans on December 2, 1804. Its territory that included parts of the present parishes of East Carroll, Madison, and Tensas.[5] Land between the Mississippi, Red, Black, and Tensaw rivers comprised the early local administration of Concordia.[6]

Because Concordia's alluvial soil was unusually productive for cotton growing, it attracted large plantations, whose owners enslaved a very high number of people. In 1860, slaves made up 91 percent of Concordia Parish's residents, the highest percentage of any Louisiana parish. Only two counties in the United States — Washington and Issaquena counties in Mississippi — had a higher percentage of its population enslaved.[7] As might be expected, the small number of white cotton planters in Concordia were fierce defenders of chattel slavery and strongly backed the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

• U.S. Highway 65
• U.S. Highway 84
• Louisiana Highway 15
• Louisiana Highway 566

• Tensas Parish (north)
• Adams County, Mississippi (northeast)
• Wilkinson County, Mississippi (east)
• West Feliciana Parish (southeast)
• Pointe Coupee Parish (south)
• Avoyelles Parish (southwest)
• Catahoula Parish (west)

• Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge

• Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,687 people, 7,162 households, and 4,562 families residing in the parish.

As of the census[17] of 2000, there were 20,247 people, 7,521 households, and 5,430 families residing in the parish. The population density was 29 inhabitants per square mile (11/km²). There were 9,148 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5.0/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 57.9% White, 40.7% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.55% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. 1.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,521 households, out of which 33.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.00% were married couples living together, 19.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.80% were non-families. 25.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the parish the population was spread out, with 27.80% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 25.60% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.90 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $22,742, and the median income for a family was $28,629. Males had a median income of $27,453 versus $18,678 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $11,966. About 24.30% of families and 29.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.00% of those under age 18 and 20.60% of those age 65 or over.

The Concordia Parish Library has 3 branches and a bookmobile service for all citizens of Concordia Parish.

• Ferriday Branch - 1609 Third Street, Ferriday, LA
• Vidalia Branch - 408 Texas Street, Vidalia, LA
• Clayton Branch - 31451 HWY-15 Clayton, LA

The Concordia Parish Library is the second oldest Parish Library in Louisiana and the first of such to be tax-supported.[18] The library began as a movement between the President of the Tri-Parish Community Organization who had obtained a community program and a State Librarian at the time, Essae Martha Culver. The two held a dinner where they launched a library movement in Concordia Parish. The Ferriday Rotary Club and Police Jury along with the public worked with the Louisiana Library Commission on the project and in October 1928 the Concordia Parish Demonstration Library was opened. Citizens of the parish voted to implement a tax to ensure the library could continue to function after seeing the advantages provided by the library. The library moved in 1952 to its present-day main building site in Ferriday, Louisiana. In that same year the interested clubs of Ferriday and the Parish Library, The Concordia Parish Police Jury turned the Community Center over to the Concordia Parish Library to be operated as a parish library for all citizens of Concordia under the supervision of the Concordia Parish Library Board.

The library serves the citizens who reside in the boundaries of Concordia Parish.[19] Any person permanently residing in Concordia Parish can use the services of a library with a library card. There are two types of library cards offered:

• Library Card: allows patrons to check out physical materials and use electronic services. This card requires two items of price of residents AND a photo identification. Card is issued without charge.
• Online Registration: allows access to Wi-Fi, public access, e-services, and downloadable databases.

• Vidalia (parish seat and largest municipality)

• Ferriday
• Clayton
• Ridgecrest

Map of Concordia Parish, with municipal labels

• Minorca
• Monterey
• Spokane

• Acme
• Ashland
• Black Hawk
• Eva
• Fairview
• Mayna
• West Ferriday

• Jerry Lee Lewis, musician
• Jimmy Swaggart, televangelist
• Mickey Gilley, musician

• Campbell Brown, Emmy-award-winning journalist, CNN Anchor/host.
• Sam Hanna Sr., late publisher of Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday
• Howard K. Smith, ABC and CBS commentator

• Al Ater, State representative (1984–1988) and secretary of state (2005–2006)
• Leo Boothe, longest-serving District Judge of Concordia Parish and Catahoula Parish (1991−2015)
• Clifford Cleveland Brooks, planter in St. Joseph, represented Concordia Parish in the Louisiana State Senate from 1924 to 1932.[20]
• James H. "Jim" Brown, state senator (1972–1980), Louisiana secretary of state (1980–1988), and insurance commissioner (1992–2000)
• Charles C. Cordill, Louisiana state senator representing Concordia and Tensas parishes from 1884 to 1912[21]
• Noah W. Cross, Concordia Parish sheriff, 1944−1948; 1952−1973
• Brenham C. Crothers, Ferriday cattleman; state senator from delta parishes from 1948 to 1952 and 1956−1960
• Troyce Guice, U.S. Senate candidate, 1966 and 1986
• Bryant Hammett, state representative, 1992–2006
• Shelby M. Jackson, Education superintendent, 1948–1964
• Consuelo Montagu, Duchess of Manchester (1858−1909), spent part of her childhood at Ravenswood Place plantation, in the vicinity of Lake St. John.
• Ed Rand, late state representative (1960−1964) from Rapides Parish had a second home on Lake St. John.
• Dan Richey, state senator, 1980–1984
• Fred L. Schiele, state representative (1964−1968), Concordia Parish sheriff (1973−1980)
• J. Robert Wooley, state insurance commissioner (2000−2006); practiced law in Concordia Parish with James H. "Jim" Brown in late 1970s[22]