Lecompte, Louisiana
Encyclopedia
Lecompte is a town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in Rapides Parish
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...

, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....

 Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,366 at the 2000 census.

Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 Jackson B. Davis
Jackson B. Davis
Jackson Beauregard Davis is an American attorney based in Shreveport, Louisiana, who served as a Democrat in the Louisiana State Senate from 1956 to 1980. Now in his nineties, Davis still practices law and is active in community affairs, often addressing public gatherings...

, who served in the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 from 1956–1980, was born near Lecompte. One of Davis's state Senate colleagues, Cecil R. Blair
Cecil R. Blair
Cecil Ray Blair was a Rapides Parish farmer and businessman who was a Democratic member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1952 to 1956...

 of Rapides Parish, who served from 1960–1964 and 1966–1976, resided and operated a business in Lecompte.

Louisiana historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 Sue Eakin
Sue Eakin
Myrtle Sue Lyles Eakin, known as Sue Eakin , was an American professor, newspaper columnist, and historian from Bunkie in Avoyelles Parish, who researched Louisiana history, particularly the Old South plantation system.-Early years:Eakin was born on the Compromise Plantation in the Lyles community...

 was reared in the area and graduated from Lecompte High School.

Geography

Lecompte is located at 31°5′28"N 92°24′1"W (31.091135, -92.400397).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 1 square miles (2.6 km²), all of it land.

It is most famous for Lea's Lunchroom 1, a restaurant specializing in pie. Since 2002, the town has hosted an annual pie festival 2.

Major highways

  • U.S. Route 71
    U.S. Route 71
    U.S. Route 71 is a north–south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways. Currently, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of the Fort...

  • Louisiana Highway 112
    Louisiana Highway 112
    Louisiana Highway 112 is a state highway in Louisiana. It spans and runs from west to east. LA 112 is a mostly rural two lane highway with a maximum speed limit of per hour. The western terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 171/U.S. Route 190 in Beauregard Parish and the eastern...


Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 1,366 people, 516 households, and 330 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,344.8 people per square mile (517.1/km²). There were 586 housing units at an average density of 576.9 per square mile (221.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 24.96% White, 74.30% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.15% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.95% of the population.

There were 516 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 24.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the town the population was spread out with 28.9% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 79.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $18,708, and the median income for a family was $23,897. Males had a median income of $22,361 versus $15,250 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $10,210. About 32.9% of families and 35.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.8% of those under age 18 and 32.6% of those age 65 or over.

History

The town of Lecompte, Louisiana, was named after a famous racehorse owned by the Wells family who lived on a plantation south of the town. The horse's name was LeComte. He won races at the Fairgrounds racetrack in New Orleans. During the days of the Lecompte High School, the yearbook was named the LeComte with a picture of the racehorse on the first page. When the railroad painted a sign on the side of the train depot years ago a "p" was added to the name and it has been LeCompte ever since.
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