Lincoln Parish, Louisiana

Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Lincoln Parish (French: Paroisse de Lincoln) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,396. The parish seat is Ruston. The parish was created on February 24, 1873, from parts of Bienville, Claiborne, Union, and Jackson parishes, and its boundaries have changed only once (in 1877). This makes Lincoln Parish one of the Reconstruction parishes.
Lincoln Parish comprises the Ruston, LA micropolitan statistical area.
History
Since the late 20th century, archeologists have dated eleven sites in northern Louisiana where thousands of years ago, indigenous cultures built complexes with multiple, monumental earthwork mounds during the Middle Archaic period, long before the development of sedentary, agricultural societies. At sites such as Watson Brake, Frenchman's Bend, and Caney, generations of hunter-gatherers worked for hundreds of years to build and add to mound complexes. Hedgepeth Site, located in Lincoln Parish, is dated about 5200–4500 BP (about 3300–2600 BCE), from the latter part of this period. Such finds are changing the understanding of early human cultures.
The parish was one of several new ones established by the state legislature during Reconstruction; in 1873 it was formed from land that had belonged to Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson and Union parishes to create one in which newly elected representatives might have more ties to the Republican Party. It was an attempt to break up the old order of political power, and to capitalize on the arrival of the railroad line. The parish is named for the late U.S. president Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln Parish is usually Republican in contested elections. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won the parish with 10,739 votes (56.5 percent) to U.S. President Barack H. Obama, the Democrat who polled 7,956 ballots (41.9 percent).
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.
Major highways
Interstate 20
U.S. Highway 80
U.S. Highway 167
Louisiana Highway 33
Adjacent parishes
Union Parish (north)
Ouachita Parish (east)
Jackson Parish (south)
Bienville Parish (southwest)
Claiborne Parish (northwest)
Communities
Cities
Grambling
Ruston (parish seat and largest municipality)
Towns
Dubach
Vienna
Villages
Choudrant
Downsville
Simsboro
Unincorporated communities
Corinth
Mount Zion
Pleasant Hill
Hico
Hilly
Unionville
Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 48,396 people, 17,712 households, and 10,407 families residing in the parish.
Education
Lincoln Parish residents are zoned to Lincoln Parish School Board schools.
The parish is home to Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, and Grambling State University in Grambling.
Bethel Christian School is located in Ruston.
Ruston High School is located in Ruston.
Lincoln Preparatory School is located in Grambling.
Choudrant Elementary School and Choudrant High School are located in Choudrant.
Cedar Creek (K - 12) is located in Ruston
National Guard
527th Engineer Battalion (Triple Alpha) ("Anything, Anytime, Anywhere") is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana, the parish seat. This battalion is part of the 225th Engineer Brigade of the Louisiana National Guard.
Attractions
Eddie G. Robinson Museum
Lincoln Parish Park
Louisiana Military Museum
Lincoln Parish Museum
Dixie Center for the Arts
North Central Louisiana Arts Council
Ruston Community Theatre
Celebrity Theatre (movie theater)
Annual Peach Festival held in Ruston
Annual Chicken Festival held in Dubach
Kingdom Collectives Film Festival held in Ruston
Politics
See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
References
External links
Lincoln Parish
Louisiana parishes
Ruston, Louisiana micropolitan area
1873 establishments in Louisiana
Populated places established in 1873