Welsh, Louisiana

Welsh, Louisiana
Town
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Jefferson Davis
Elevation	23 ft (7 m)
Coordinates
Area	6.3 sq mi (16.3 km2)
- land	6.2 sq mi (16 km2)
- water	0.1 sq mi (0 km2), 1.59%
Population	3,226 (2010)
Density	512.1 / sq mi (197.7 / km2)
Founded	March 15, 1888
Mayor	"Carolyn" Louviere (elected 2012)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code	337
Location of Welsh in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States
Website: http://www.townofwelsh.com/

Welsh is a town in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,226 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jennings Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The area that the town of Welsh encompasses was originally settled on by Henry Welsh in the mid to late 1800s. In 1881 he agreed to let trains pass through his land as long as they agreed to make a station on his property and call it Welsh. This was only the start of Welsh. Welsh was incorporated on March 15, 1888 where Henry Welsh was elected the first mayor.

Geography

Welsh is located at (30.237419, -92.820593).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16.4 km²), of which, 6.2 square miles (16.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (1.89%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1890	200		—
1900	320		60.0%
1910	1,250		290.6%
1920	1,456		16.5%
1930	1,514		4.0%
1940	1,822		20.3%
1950	2,416		32.6%
1960	3,332		37.9%
1970	3,203		−3.9%
1980	3,515		9.7%
1990	3,299		−6.1%
2000	3,380		2.5%
2010	3,226		−4.6%
Est. 2014	3,236		0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,226 people, 1,216 households, and 843 families residing in the town. The population density was 512.1 people per square mile (209.8/km²). There were 1,374 housing units at an average density of 220.3 per square mile (85.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 77.5% White, 20.3% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.03% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population.

There were 1,216 households out of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.9% were married couples living together, 18.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $32,318, and the median income for a family was $43,853. The per capita income for the town was $18,630. About 20.4% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.4% of those under age 18 and 18.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Phillip Walker (1937-2010), electric blues guitarist and singer
• Charles Mann (singer), (born Charles Louis Domingue 1944) swamp pop legend and member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame

Education

Jefferson Davis Parish Public Schools operates public schools in Welsh. Schools serving Welsh include Welsh Elementary School (PK-5) in Welsh, Welsh-Roanoke Junior High School (6-8) in a nearby unincorporated area, and Welsh High School (9-12) [2] in Welsh.

Jefferson Davis Parish Library operates the McBurney Memorial Branch at 301 South Sarah Street.