Newellton, Louisiana

Last updated

Newellton, Louisiana
Town
Town of Newellton
Newellton, LA, Water Tower IMG 1272.JPG
Newellton, Louisiana, Water Tower
Tensas Parish Louisiana Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Newellton Highlighted.svg
Location of Newellton in Tensas Parish, Louisiana.
Louisiana in United States (US48).svg
Location of Louisiana in the United States
Coordinates: 32°04′22″N91°14′21″W / 32.07278°N 91.23917°W / 32.07278; -91.23917
CountryUnited States
StateLouisiana
Parish Tensas
Government
 • MayorTimothy Turner
 • Chief of PoliceDesmond "Gump" Ford
Area
[1]
 • Total0.87 sq mi (2.26 km2)
 • Land0.76 sq mi (1.97 km2)
 • Water0.11 sq mi (0.29 km2)
Elevation
79 ft (24 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total886
 • Density1,167.33/sq mi (450.58/km2)
Time zone CST
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
71357 [2]
Area code 318
FIPS code 22-53930
Newellton welcome sign erected by the town council in 2012 Newellton, LA, welcome sign IMG 0075 (2).JPG
Newellton welcome sign erected by the town council in 2012
Lake St. Joseph as seen from behind Britt's Pharmacy in Newellton Lake St. Joseph in Newellton, LA (2013) IMG 7476 2.jpg
Lake St. Joseph as seen from behind Britt's Pharmacy in Newellton

Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population is 1,187 in the 2010 census, a decline of 255 persons, or 17 percent, from the 2000 tabulation of 1,482. The average age of the population there is 41 years. [3]

Contents

Newellton is west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake. Further south toward St. Joseph, the parish seat of government, is another ox-bow lake, Lake Bruin, a part of which is the popular Lake Bruin State Park.

History

Newellton itself was founded in the early 19th century by the Routh family, for whom the defunct Routhwood Elementary School was named. John David Stokes Newell Sr., a planter and lawyer in St. Joseph, the seat of Tensas Parish, named the settlement for his father, Edward, a native of North Carolina who relocated to Tensas Parish in 1834. [4]

Newellton was designated a village in 1904. On April 4, 1951, under Mayor T. T. Hargrove, Newellton was upgraded to a town through the state Lawrason Act. [5]

In March 2014, Newellton became debt-free. [6]

Geography

Newellton is located at 32°4′22″N91°14′21″W / 32.07278°N 91.23917°W / 32.07278; -91.23917 (32.072740, -91.239230). [7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2), of which 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (12.64%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1910 424—
1920 54127.6%
1930 62715.9%
1940 78925.8%
1950 1,28062.2%
1960 1,45313.5%
1970 1,403−3.4%
1980 1,72623.0%
1990 1,576−8.7%
2000 1,482−6.0%
2010 1,187−19.9%
2020 886−25.4%
U.S. Decennial Census [8]
Newellton racial composition as of 2020 [9]
RaceNum.Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)19822.35%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)64572.8%
Other/Mixed 313.5%
Hispanic or Latino 121.35%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 886 people, 403 households, and 245 families residing in the town.

Politics

In 2012, the former Newellton mayor, Democrat Alex Davis (born 1942), did not seek a fourth term. The first African American in the position, Davis unseated the 34-year incumbent Edwin G. Preis Sr., [10] a white businessman, in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 7, 2000. Davis received 366 votes (56.8 percent) to Preis' 184 (28.6 percent), and Floyd Aaron "Coonie" McVay's 94 votes (14.6 percent). [11] A native of Oak Grove in West Carroll Parish, McVay was formerly the Newellton police chief. He died in 2012 at the age of eighty. [12]

The current mayor is the African-American Democrat Timothy Durell Turner, the former District 1 alderman, who won the election held on December 8, 2012, by a single vote, 217-216, over the Republican candidate, James Carroll Fuller Sr. (1936-2021), the former District 5 alderman. [13] [14] Fuller, who is white, is a former resident of Braxton, Mississippi, and Denham Springs, Louisiana.[ citation needed ] Fuller had led Turner, 259 (44.7 percent) to 207 (35.8 percent), in the higher-turnout primary election held on November 6, with another 113 votes (19.5 percent) then cast for a second Democrat, Knola Ransome. [15]

In 2016, Fuller again challenged Turner and once again lost by one vote, 210 for Fuller and 211 for Turner. [16]

Fuller earlier was among 582 Louisiana elected officials named to former Governor Bobby Jindal's "Kitchen Cabinet Leadership Team". Two other Tensas Parish officials appointed to the panel were Assessor Irby Gamble and Coroner Keith D. Butler, both of St. Joseph. [17]

The Newellton police chief, Johnny Gales (1951-2021), a Democrat, was reelected in 2012. There are five municipal alderman, one of whom, Lavone G. Garner from District 5, is a Republican. She was elected to succeed Carroll Fuller, who left the council with his first race for mayor. [18]

As of 2013, there were four police officers and Chief Gales in Newellton, with two marked cars and one unmarked, and eighteen volunteer firefighters. The town clerk is Rhonda King (born 1953). [19]

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Carroll Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

West Carroll Parish is a parish located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,751. The parish seat is Oak Grove. The parish was founded in 1877, when Carroll Parish was divided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webster Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Webster Parish is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tensas Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Tensas Parish is a parish located in the northeastern section of the State of Louisiana; its eastern border is the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,147. It is the least populated parish in Louisiana. The parish seat is St. Joseph. The name Tensas is derived from the historic indigenous Taensa people. The parish was founded in 1843 following Indian Removal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapides Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Rapides Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 130,023. The parish seat is Alexandria, which developed along the Red River of the South. Rapides is the French word for "rapids". The parish was created in 1807 after the United States acquired this territory in the Louisiana Purchase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Madison Parish is a parish located on the northeastern border of the U.S. state of Louisiana, in the delta lowlands along the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,017. Its parish seat is Tallulah. The parish was formed in 1839.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Grant Parish is a parish located in the North Central portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,169. The parish seat is Colfax. The parish was founded in 1869 during the Reconstruction era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Carroll Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

East Carroll Parish is a parish located in the Mississippi Delta in northeastern Louisiana. As of 2020, its population was 7,459. The parish seat is Lake Providence. An area of cotton plantations in the antebellum era, the parish in the early 21st century has about 74% of its land devoted to agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claiborne Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1828, and was named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,170. The parish seat is Homer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Providence, Louisiana</span> Town in Louisiana, United States

Lake Providence is a town in, and the parish seat of, East Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana. The population was 5,104 at the 2000 census and declined by 21.8 percent to 3,991 in 2010. The town's poverty rate is approximately 55 percent; the average median household income is $16,500, and the average age is 31.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph, Louisiana</span> Town in Louisiana, United States

St. Joseph, often called St. Joe, is a town in, and the parish seat of, rural Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States, in the delta of the Mississippi River. The population was 1,176 at the 2010 census. The town had an African-American majority of 77.4 percent in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterproof, Louisiana</span> Village in Louisiana, United States

Waterproof is a village in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States with a population of 688 as of the 2010 census. The village in 2010 was 91.7 percent African American. Some 24 percent of Waterproof residents in 2010 were aged sixty or above.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murphy J. Foster</span> American politician

Murphy James Foster was the 31st Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana, an office he held for two terms from 1892 to 1900. Foster supported the Louisiana Constitution of 1898, which effectively disfranchised the black majority, who were mostly Republicans. This led to Louisiana becoming a one-party Democratic state for several generations and excluding African Americans from the political system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kip Holden</span> American politician

Melvin Lee "Kip" Holden, is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2016 as the Democratic Mayor-President of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The parish includes the state capital of Baton Rouge and smaller suburban cities such as Baker, Central City, and Zachary.

Phillip Wesley Preis Sr., known as Phil Preis, is an American attorney and former politician, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who specializes in mergers and acquisitions. A native of Newellton in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, Preis is the son of Patricia M. Preis of Newellton and Edwin Gustav Preis Sr. (1916–2011), a former Newellton mayor, who was also from 1976 to 1977 the president of the Louisiana Municipal Association.

Charlton Bath Forgotston, Jr., known as C. B. Forgotston, was an American attorney, political pundit and state government watchdog from Hammond in southeastern Louisiana. For seven years, he was the chief counsel of the Appropriations Committee of the Louisiana House of Representatives. Long affected by bipolar disorder, Forgotston committed suicide by firearm early in 2016, around two weeks before his 71st birthday.

John Clyde Morris III is a businessman and attorney from Monroe, Louisiana. A Republican, Morris has been a member of the Louisiana State Senate for the 35th district in North Louisiana since 2020. From 2012 until 2020, Morris was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 14, which encompasses Ouachita and Morehouse parishes in the northeastern portion of his state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Dement</span>

George Elyott Dement Jr., was an American innkeeper and restaurateur who served from 1989 to 2005 as the thirteenth mayor of Bossier City, Louisiana.

Thomas Magruder Wade, I, was an educator, politician, and civic leader from Newellton in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana.

Clyde Vernon Ratcliff, Sr., was an American cotton planter and politician from Newellton, Louisiana, who served as a Democrat from 1944 to 1948 in the Louisiana State Senate. He represented the delta parishes: Tensas, Madison, East Carroll, and Concordia, a rich farming region along the Mississippi River in eastern Louisiana ranging from Vidalia to Lake Providence. The four parishes elected two senators at the time, and Ratcliff's seat-mate was Andrew L. Sevier of Tallulah in Madison Parish.

References

  1. ↑ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Newellton LA ZIP Code". zipdatamaps.com. 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Newellton, LA". zip-codes.com. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  4. ↑ "John ... and Edward Newell", Louisiana Historical Association, A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 600
  5. ↑ "Public elected officials: Tensas Parish". files.usgwarchives.net. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Cole Avery, Newellton pays off all of town's debt, March 15, 2014". Monroe News-Star . Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  7. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Edwin G. Preis". Baton Rouge Morning Advodate, July 29, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Results for Election Date: 10/7/2000". Louisiana Secretary of State . Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Floyd Aaron "Coonie" McVay obituary". Monroe News Star. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Tensas Parish general election returns, December 8, 2012". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  14. ↑ "One vote decides Newellton mayor's race". Monroe News Star, December 8, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Tensas Parish election returns, November 6, 2012". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Election Returns". Louisiana Secretary of State. December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Bobby Jindal announces Kitchen Cabinet Leadership Team". bobbyjindal.com. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Louisiana election returns, November 6, 2012". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  19. ↑ http://enlou.com/communities/newellton.htm; Newellton Town Hall: 318-467-5050
  20. ↑ "Dorsey, Sarah Anne Ellis". A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahist.org). Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  21. ↑ "Douglas, Emmitt Jame". A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  22. ↑ "C.B. Forgotston biographical sketch". forgotston.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
  23. ↑ Obituary of Clyde V. Ratcliff Sr., Tensas Gazette, October 8, 1952
  24. ↑ Yearbook of American Clan Gregor Society, pp. 101-103. Richmond, Virginia: Appeals Press, 1916, Egbert Watson Magruder, ed. 1916. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker". Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2008.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.