Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

Evangeline Parish (: Paroisse d'Évangéline) is a located in the  of. The is. As of 2000, the parish's population is 35,434.

The parish was named Evangeline in honor of the Acadian people who lived further south; their history had been commemorated in 's narrative poem, . Evangeline was immortalized in the song Louisiana, 1927, in which he describes the flood which sank it under six feet of water.

Clint West (Clinton Guillory) was raised in L'anse Grise (Easton area - Gray Point) and became one of the pioneers of Swamp Pop music. Popular songs include, "Big Blue Diamonds" and "Please Mr. Jeweler." He was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame twice.

History
The parish was created out of lands formerly belonging to in. The area was originally settled by French, German, Spanish and Scot-Irish people. The majority were French, former soldiers from Fort Toulouse, and they were originally named Creoles. The major families were Fontenot, Guillory, Lafleur, and Brignac. The Creoles developed a culture that was a mixture of all the ethnic groups living in the area. A few Acadians settled the area but outsiders mistakenly labeled all the white French people as Cajuns.

Geography
The parish has a total area of 1,760 (680 ), of which 40 km² (15 sq mi) of it (2.26%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 167.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:LA 10.PNG|20px]]
 * [[Image:LA 13.PNG|20px]]
 * [[Image:LA 29.PNG|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 35,434 people, 12,736 households, and 9,157 families residing in the parish. The was 21/km² (53/sq mi). There were 14,258 housing units at an average density of 8/km² (22/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 70.42%, 28.57% or , 0.23% , 0.14% , 0.01% , 0.18% from , and 0.46% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were or  of any race. 25.71% reported speaking or  at home.

There were 12,736 households out of which 38.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.30% were living together, 15.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the parish the population was spread out with 29.60% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 20.40% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.10 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $20,532, and the median income for a family was $27,243. Males had a median income of $30,386 versus $16,793 for females. The for the parish was $11,432. About 27.20% of families and 32.20% of the population were below the, including 39.10% of those under age 18 and 31.00% of those age 65 or over.