Webster Parish, Louisiana

Webster Parish is a located in the  of. The of the parish is. In, its population was 41,831. The parish is named for American statesman.

Webster Parish was created in from lands formerly belonging to ,  and  parishes.

Geography
The parish has a total area of 1,593 (615 ). 1,542 km² (595 sq mi) of it is land and 51 km² (20 sq mi) of it (3.23%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-20.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 79.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 80.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 371.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:LA 2.PNG|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 41,831 people, 16,501 households, and 11,567 families residing in the parish. The was 27/km² (70/sq mi). There were 18,991 housing units at an average density of 12/km² (32/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 65.51%, 32.83% or , 0.34% , 0.19% , 0.04% , 0.22% from , and 0.86% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 16,501 households out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.70% were living together, 16.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the parish the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.20 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $28,408, and the median income for a family was $35,119. Males had a median income of $30,343 versus $20,907 for females. The for the parish was $15,203. About 15.30% of families and 20.20% of the population were below the, including 29.60% of those under age 18 and 16.10% of those age 65 or over.

Politics
Since, Webster Parish has been represented in the by a member of the Doerge family. Democrat, a retired and native of Minden, unseated the short-term    and held the seat until his death in. His widow,, also a former educator, a Democrat, and a native of , won the as his successor. She has since been reelected twice without opposition.

From to  the office of Webster Parish, who also holds the title of chief parish tax collector, was filled by only three persons, all Democrats, from two political families. Oscar Henry Haynes, Sr. (-), held the position from 1933- and was a deputy sheriff for the five years before he became sheriff. His son, (-), a  graduate of, served from -1980. Like his father, Haynes, Jr., was also a deputy prior to taking office. He also served for eight years as supervisor of the state driver's license office in Minden, and he was the distributor in Webster Parish for forty years. Haynes, Jr., was the father of  star,  (-). The Hayneses are interred in the Minden.

Between the tenures of the Hayneses was their intraparty rival, (-), who filled the post from 1952-1964. Batton was the brother of a long-term Minden city official, former Jack Batton (-1996). The current Webster Parish sheriff is Gary Sexton, a Democrat first elected in and a candidate for reelection in.

A native,, served in the  from -. In, Heflin was named the executive director of the of. He resides in the  of.