Ascension Parish (; ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created in 1807. Ascension Parish is part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area.
Ascension Parish is one of the 22 parishes that make up Acadiana, the heartland of the Cajun people and their culture. This is exhibited by the prevalence of the French or Cajun French language heard throughout the parish, as well as the many festivals celebrated by its residents, including the Boucherie Festival, Lagniappe Music and Seafood Festival, Crawfish Festival, and the Jambalaya Festival.https://tourascension.com/events/dreams-come-true-crawfish-festival/ The largest incorporated city in Ascension Parish, Gonzales, is celebrated as the "Jambalaya Capital of the World".
History Early European settlers of the area that was developed as Ascension and Gonzales were, for the most part, of French and Spanish ancestry. They settled among the Houma Indians who lived in the area.
Among the projects and plans carried out by Luis de Unzaga 'le Conciliateur' while he was governor of Louisiana between 1769 and 1777 was the promotion of new settlements by Europeans, among them were French Acadians and Málaga in the fertile Mississippi region and more specifically in the Unzaga Post or 'Puesto de Unzaga' that he created in 1771 in Pointe Coupee, the parish of Saint Gabriel in 1773 and Fort Manchac in 1776; the Ascension people occupied land at the confluence of the aforementioned European settlements.Cazorla, Frank (2019) The governor Louis de Unzaga (1717-1793) Pioneer in the Birth of the United States of America and in Liberalism. Foundation Malaga, pp. 48–56, 64–72, 83
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln mentioned Ascension Parish in the Emancipation Proclamation as a confederate parish.
During the historic 2016 Louisiana Floods, around one-third of all homes in Ascension Parish were flooded; 15,000 homes and businesses took on water, mostly in the Galvez-St. Amant area, prompting a visit to St. Amant by then-presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of , of which is land and (4.2%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest parish in Louisiana by total area.
Waterways
Alligator Bayou Amite River Amite River Diversion Canal Anderson Canal Babin Canal Bayou Antoine Bayou Manchac Bayou Narcisse Bayou Pierre Bayou Pas Bayou Conway Bayou Francois Bayou Lafourche Bayou Napoleon Bayou Verret Bayou Vicknair Black Bayou Blind River Boudreau Bayou Boyle Bayou Braud Bayou Cocodrie Bayou Cotton Bayou Crowley Ditch Duckroost Bayou Flat Lake Grand Goudine Bayou Hackett Canal Heath Bayou Henderson Bayou Jim Bayou Johnson Bayou Lake Millet Lake Villars Laurel Ridge Canal McCall Bayou Mississippi River Muddy Creek New River New River Canal Old New River Panama Canal Pipeline Canal Rocky Canal Roddy Bayou Saveiro Canal Sides Bayou Smith Bayou Spanish Lake Welsh Gully
Major highways
Interstate 10 U.S. Highway 61 Louisiana Highway 1 Louisiana Highway 16 Louisiana Highway 18 Louisiana Highway 22 Louisiana Highway 30 Louisiana Highway 42 Louisiana Highway 44 Louisiana Highway 70 Louisiana Highway 73 Louisiana Highway 74 Louisiana Highway 75 Louisiana Highway 308 Louisiana Highway 405 Louisiana Highway 427 Louisiana Highway 429 Louisiana Highway 431 Louisiana Highway 621 Louisiana Highway 928 Louisiana Highway 931 Louisiana Highway 933 Louisiana Highway 934 Louisiana Highway 935 Louisiana Highway 936 Louisiana Highway 937 Louisiana Highway 938 Louisiana Highway 939 Louisiana Highway 940 Louisiana Highway 941 Louisiana Highway 942 Louisiana Highway 943 Louisiana Highway 944 Louisiana Highway 945 Louisiana Highway 3038 Louisiana Highway 3089 Louisiana Highway 3120 Louisiana Highway 3127 Louisiana Highway 3251
Adjacent parishes East Baton Rouge Parish (north) Livingston Parish (northeast) St. John the Baptist Parish (east) St. James Parish (southeast) Assumption Parish (southwest) Iberville Parish (west)
Communities Cities Donaldsonville (parish seat) Gonzales
Town Sorrento
Census-designated places Darrow Lemannville Prairieville
Unincorporated communities
Aben Acy Barmen Barton Belle Helene Bowden Brignac Brittany Brusly McCall Bullion Burnside Cofield Cornerview Duckroost Duplessis Dutchtown Galvez Geismar Hillaryville Hobart Hohen Solms Hope Villa Little Prairie McElroy Marchand Miles Modeste Mount Houmas Oak Grove Noel Palo Alto Philadelphia Point Saint Elmo Saint Amant Smoke Bend Southwood Weber City
Demographics
+Ascension Parish, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)37,67243,81858,37875,94979,64575.24%75.27%76.18%70.84%62.96%Black or African American alone (NH)11,12313,20415,46623,72730,29622.22%22.68%20.18%22.13%23.95%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)76841912972660.15%0.14%0.25%0.28%0.21%Asian alone (NH)821522499951,6810.16%0.26%0.32%0.93%1.33%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 Census186132xx0.02%0.06%0.03%Other race alone (NH)2133401333550.04%0.06%0.05%0.12%0.28%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census4021,0293,842xx0.52%0.96%3.04%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1,0949231,8835,02410,3832.19%1.59%2.46%4.69%8.21%Total50,06858,21476,627107,215126,500 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
In 1810, the parish had a population of 2,219; since then, its population has steadily increased despite some decades of population decline. In 1900, the parish's population reached a first historic high of 24,142 before increasing again to 58,214 at the 1990 U.S. census. At the 2010 census, Ascension Parish's population grew to 107,215; and at the 2020 United States census, there were 126,500 people, 44,267 households, and 32,305 families residing in the parish.
Having historic settlement by French and Spanish colonials during the periods of French and Spanish Louisiana, Ascension Parish's racial and ethnic composition has remained predominantly non-Hispanic white throughout a portion of its history. With the greater diversification of the United States at the 2020 census, non-Hispanic white residents were 62.96% of the total population. Black or African American Louisianians and others made up 23.95% of the population, followed by Hispanics or Latinos of any race (8.21%), Asians (1.33%), multiracial Americans (3.32%), Native Americans (0.21%), and Pacific Islanders (0.03%).
Among its residents at the 2021 American Community Survey's 1-year estimates program, households had a median income of $72,662 and mean income of $92,143. Families had a median income of $85,632; married-couple families $111,445; and non-family households $32,498. Overall, residents of Ascension Parish are wealthier than nearby East Baton Rouge Parish.
Religiously and spiritually, Christianity is the dominant religion for the parish. According to the Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020, the Roman Catholic Church was the single-largest Christian denomination for the parish, served primarily by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge. The overall Catholic population in Ascension Parish was 39,260 in 2020. Non-denominational or inter-denominational Christian churches—whether independent Bible churches, United and Uniting, etc.—were the second largest Christian group in the parish with 9,430 members. Collectively, Baptists throughout the Southern Baptist Convention, Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, and National Baptist Convention of America made up 5,043 religious adherents. Parish-wide Protestant statistics reflect an increase in non- or inter-denominational Christianity throughout Louisiana, outgrowing Methodism as the second-largest Protestant group for the state per the Association of Religion Data Archives 2020 religion census; the growth of non/inter-denominational Christianity for the area represented a broader trend nationwide, where the movement began to constitute the largest segment of American Protestantism.
Education Ascension Parish School Board operates the local public schools. The parish is also home to private schools and—since 1998, to River Parishes Community College.
Media Two newspapers are based in Ascension Parish's two cities, Donaldsonville and Gonzales. The Gonzales Weekly Citizen is a bi-weekly newspaper formed after the merger of The Gonzales Weekly (founded 1920) and The Ascension Citizen (founded 1996). The Donaldsonville Chief, founded in 1871, is the parish's longest-continually-published newspaper.
Law, government and politics
On March 8, 2017, Ascension Parish President Kenneth Paul "Kenny" Matassa (born September 12, 1949), a Republican, along with Olin Glenn Berthelot (born August 1948), a Democratic businessman from Gonzales, faced indictment in an attempted bribery scheme. The pair is charged with encouraging a candidate to withdraw from a local election on November 8, 2016.
The grand jury released its true bill to Judge Tess Stromberg of the 23rd Judicial District Court in Ascension, Assumption, and St. James parishes. Among those who testified in the case were Democratic Gonzales City Council member Neal Bourqueat. Matassa and Berthelot allegedly bribed the Democrat A. Wayne Lawson with offers of money and a government job to drop out of the city council race in Division E against Bourque, who nevertheless won reelection with 61 percent of the ballots cast.
Matassa and Berthelot turned themselves in to authorities and posted a $5,000 bond. Reports, meanwhile, surfaced of a move before the parish council calling for Matassa to resign. He cannot be forced from the office, however, unless convicted of the crime. Matassa and Berthelot could have received up to two years in state prison either with or without hard time and/or a fine of $2,000. Matassa was instead acquitted in July 2018 of the election bribery allegations and returned to his duties as parish president with a legal cloud lifted from his shoulders.
National Guard The 922nd Engineer Company (Horizontal), a unit of the 769th Engineer Battalion and the 225th Engineer Brigade. The 1021st Vertical Engineer Company also resides in Gonzales, Louisiana.
See also Acadian Coast National Register of Historic Places listings in Ascension Parish, Louisiana Johnny Berthelot Ralph Falsetta Eddie J. Lambert Sidney McCrory Edward J. Price Mert Smiley
References
Further reading McCulloh, R. P., P. V. Heinrich, and J. Snead, 2003, Ponchatoula 30 x 60 minute geologic quadrangle. Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
External links
Ascension Parish government's website Ascension Parish Sheriff's website Weekly Citizen newspaper Ascension Parish Library
Census shows shift Radio station website