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'St. Martin Parish' (French: ''Paroisse de Saint-Martin'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is St. Martinville and as of the 2000 census, the population is 48,583. The parish is split into two noncontiguous parts because of a surveying error dating to 1868, when Iberia Parish was created by the Louisiana Legislature.
St. Martin Parish was the birthplace of the Louisiana Martins, a political father and son team: Wade O. Martin, Sr., and Wade O. Martin, Jr., who served, respectively, as Louisiana public service commissioner and as secretary of state.
Prior to his PSC tenure, Martin, Sr., was the St. Martin Parish sheriff. He hired Drauzin Angelle as chief deputy in 1924. From the second position in the sheriff's office, Angelle became a political power broker in St. Martin Parish for more than three decades Angelle's son, Bob Angelle became mayor of Breaux Bridge and served for more than three decades in the Louisiana House of Representatives, including a stint as Speaker from 1957-1960.
Also from St. Martin Parish was state senator and then District Judge James D. Simon (1897-1982), who capped his 35-year judicial career as a member of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Contents

Geography

Major Highways

Adjacent parishes

Demographics

Cities and towns

External links

Geography

The parish has a total area of 2,115 km² (816 mi²). 1,916 km² (740 mi²) of it is land and 198 km² (77 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 9.38% water.

Major Highways

★ Interstate 10

★ Louisiana Highway 31

★ Louisiana Highway 70

Adjacent parishes

Iberia Parish splits the parish into two parts. In addition, the following parishes are also adjacent:

★ St. Landry Parish (north)

★ Pointe Coupee Parish (northeast)

★ Iberville Parish (east)

★ Assumption Parish (southeast)

★ St. Mary Parish (southwest)

★ Lafayette Parish (west)

★ Iberia Parish (South of Upper St. Martin/North of Lower St. Martin)

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 48,583 people, 17,164 households, and 12,975 families residing in the parish. The population density was 25/km² (66/mi²). There were 20,245 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (27/mi²). The racial makeup of the parish was 65.95% White, 31.98% Black or African American, 0.92% Asian, 0.29% Native American, 0.20% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 0.83% of the population. The 2000 census counted 44,915 people in the parish who are at least five years old of whom 31,229 (69.5%) speak only English at home, 27.44% reported speaking French or Cajun French at home, while 1.52% speak Louisiana Creole French.&ea=&order=r St. Martin has the highest percentage of French-speaking residents of any county or parish in the United States.
There were 17,164 households out of which 39.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.60% were married couples living together, 15.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.40% were non-families. 20.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the parish the population was spread out with 29.50% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.00 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $30,701, and the median income for a family was $36,316. Males had a median income of $30,701 versus $18,365 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $13,619. About 18.40% of families and 21.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.70% of those under age 18 and 22.10% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

★ Breaux Bridge ★ Cecilia

★ Henderson ★ Parks

★ St. Martinville

External links

★ Official website

★ St. Martin Parish Tourism Commission

★ Cajun recipes from those in St. Martin Parish, from a commercial website run by former Louisiana residents