Convent, Louisiana

Convent, Louisiana
Census-designated place
Convent, Louisiana Location of Convent in Louisiana
Coordinates: 30°01′15″N90°49′47″W / 30.02083°N 90.82972°W / 30.02083; -90.82972
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	St. James
Area [1]
• Total	5.33 sq mi (13.81 km2)
• Land	3.89 sq mi (10.07 km2)
• Water	1.44 sq mi (3.74 km2)
Elevation [2]	10 ft (3 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	483
• Density	124.26/sq mi (47.97/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code	70723
Area code	225
FIPS code	22-17180
GNIS feature ID	2583534 [2]

Convent (French : Couvent) is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States. ^[3] It has been the parish seat since 1869. It is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area .

As of the 2010 census, its population was 711. ^[4] The 2018 median household income was $52,292 above the state's average. ^[5]

History

Manresa House of Retreats (formerly Jefferson College) in 1934

The community was originally named Baron when first settled 1722 to 1739. It was the location of the St. Michael's Convent (Order of the Sacred Heart) from 1825 to 1932 and the location of Jefferson College, 1831 to 1931. ^[6]

St. Michael's Church Historic District and Jefferson College (now a Jesuit retreat center called Manresa House of Retreats), along with several historic homes in Convent, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On February 23, 2016, an extremely large wedge tornado hit the Sugar Hill RV park with two dead and several people injured. ^{[7] [8]}

Geography

Located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, the town is only 16 feet (4.9 meters) above sea level. Convent has an area of 5.331 miles (8.579 km), of which 3.887 miles (6.256 km) is land and 1.444 miles (2.324 km) is water. ^[9]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2010	711		—
2020	483		−32.1%
U.S. Decennial Census [10] 2010 [11] 2020 [12]

Convent CDP, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2010 [11]	Pop 2020 [12]	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	226	203	31.79%	42.03%
Black or African American alone (NH)	467	255	65.68%	52.80%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Asian alone (NH)	1	2	0.14%	0.41%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	2	0	0.28%	0.00%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH)	6	6	0.84%	1.24%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	9	17	1.27%	3.52%
Total	711	483	100.00%	100.00%

Industry

The town of Convent is home to a Royal Dutch Shell, Hydrogen cracking refinery that can produce 210k barrels of day of consumer petroleum products. ^{[13] [14]} As of July 2020, Shell was considering selling the plant. ^{[15] [14]} The plant produces 129,000 kg of annual air emissions that are high risk, including cobalt and cobalt compounds ^[5] which is in high demand for the production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

Notable person

• Jarvis Landry is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He also played college football at LSU.

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
2. "Convent Census Designated Place". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
4. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved May 14, 2011.
5. "The rise of environmental justice". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
6. Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. "Convent Historical Marker".
7. "(WWL TV)". Archived from the original on February 25, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
8. "Tornado Outbreak Kills at Least 7; More Than Two Dozen Twisters Confirmed".
9. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
10. "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decade". US Census Bureau.
11. "P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Convent CDP, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau .
12. "P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Convent CDP, Louisiana". United States Census Bureau .
13. www.ETEnergyworld.com. "Shell Convent refinery restarting fire-struck hydrocracker: Sources - ET EnergyWorld". ETEnergyworld.com. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
14. "Shell weighs sale of Convent, Louisiana refinery". Reuters. July 7, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
15. Kalt, Amy (July 21, 2020). "Time to Move On - Shell's Plan to Sell Another Refinery, This Time in Louisiana's Refinery Row". rbnenergy.com. Retrieved September 10, 2020.