Lincoln Parish, Louisiana

Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Parish
Lincoln Parish Courthouse in Ruston
Flag
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Region	North Louisiana
Founded	1873
Named after	Abraham Lincoln
Parish seat (and largest city)	Ruston
Area
• Total	1,220 km2 (472 sq mi)
• Land	1,220 km2 (472 sq mi)
• Water	2 km2 (0.7 sq mi)
• percentage	0.5 km2 (0.2 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Total	48,396
• Rank	LA: 25th
• Density	40/km2 (100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code	318
Congressional district	5th
Website	Parish of Lincoln

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

The parish seat was Vienna from the parish's creation in 1873 until 1884, when a parish-wide vote moved it to the new railroad town of Ruston.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Lincoln Parish comprises the Ruston micropolitan statistical area.

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

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).^[10]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 472 square miles (1,220 km²), of which 472 square miles (1,220 km²) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) (0.2%) is water.^[11]

• Interstate 20
• U.S. Highway 63
• U.S. Highway 80
• U.S. Highway 167
• Louisiana Highway 33
• Louisiana Highway 146

• Union Parish (north)
• Ouachita Parish (east)
• Jackson Parish (south)
• Bienville Parish (southwest)
• Claiborne Parish (northwest)

• Grambling
• Ruston (parish seat and largest municipality)

• Dubach
• Vienna

• Choudrant
• Downsville
• Simsboro

• Corinth
• Mount Zion
• Pleasant Hill
• Hico
• Hilly
• Unionville

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	11,075		—
1890	14,753		33.2%
1900	15,898		7.8%
1910	18,485		16.3%
1920	16,962		−8.2%
1930	22,822		34.5%
1940	24,790		8.6%
1950	25,782		4.0%
1960	28,535		10.7%
1970	33,800		18.5%
1980	39,763		17.6%
1990	41,745		5.0%
2000	42,509		1.8%
2010	46,735		9.9%
2020	48,396		3.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[12] 1790-1960[13] 1900-1990[14] 1990-2000[15] 2010[16]

Lincoln Parish, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 1980[17]	Pop 1990[18]	Pop 2000[19]	Pop 2010[20]	Pop 2020[21]	% 1980	% 1990	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	24,453	24,425	24,206	25,313	25,672	61.50%	58.51%	56.94%	54.16%	53.05%
Black or African American alone (NH)	14,460	16,546	16,846	18,860	18,626	36.37%	39.64%	39.63%	40.36%	38.49%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	36	39	72	109	145	0.09%	0.09%	0.17%	0.23%	0.30%
Asian alone (NH)	173	330	538	786	682	0.44%	0.79%	1.27%	1.68%	1.41%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	x [22]	x [23]	6	17	5	x	x	0.01%	0.04%	0.01%
Other race alone (NH)	197	24	52	33	106	0.50%	0.06%	0.12%	0.07%	0.22%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	x [24]	x [25]	297	428	1,406	x	x	0.70%	0.92%	2.91%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	444	381	492	1,189	1,754	1.12%	0.91%	1.16%	2.54%	3.62%
Total	39,763	41,745	42,509	46,735	48,396	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 48,396 people, 17,712 households, and 10,407 families residing in the parish.

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

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.

• 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

United States presidential election results for Lincoln Parish, Louisiana^[26]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	11,248	61.95%	6,627	36.50%	282	1.55%
2020	11,311	58.68%	7,559	39.22%	405	2.10%
2016	10,761	57.64%	7,107	38.07%	801	4.29%
2012	10,739	56.54%	7,956	41.89%	298	1.57%
2008	10,680	55.69%	8,292	43.23%	207	1.08%
2004	10,791	59.23%	7,242	39.75%	185	1.02%
2000	9,246	55.86%	6,851	41.39%	454	2.74%
1996	6,973	43.98%	7,903	49.85%	979	6.17%
1992	7,220	43.60%	7,205	43.51%	2,136	12.90%
1988	8,853	60.40%	5,427	37.03%	377	2.57%
1984	9,087	61.81%	5,432	36.95%	182	1.24%
1980	7,515	55.79%	5,598	41.56%	357	2.65%
1976	6,828	57.05%	4,971	41.53%	170	1.42%
1972	6,736	69.15%	2,589	26.58%	416	4.27%
1968	2,643	29.77%	2,009	22.63%	4,225	47.59%
1964	5,766	77.09%	1,714	22.91%	0	0.00%
1960	2,766	54.14%	1,051	20.57%	1,292	25.29%
1956	2,676	59.20%	1,014	22.43%	830	18.36%
1952	3,074	60.48%	2,009	39.52%	0	0.00%
1948	353	11.03%	625	19.53%	2,223	69.45%
1944	1,032	37.71%	1,705	62.29%	0	0.00%
1940	449	13.14%	2,969	86.86%	0	0.00%
1936	201	8.53%	2,154	91.43%	1	0.04%
1932	163	7.87%	1,908	92.13%	0	0.00%
1928	670	39.16%	1,041	60.84%	0	0.00%
1924	157	13.46%	1,005	86.19%	4	0.34%
1920	183	15.61%	989	84.39%	0	0.00%
1916	42	4.29%	932	95.30%	4	0.41%
1912	3	0.39%	644	84.51%	115	15.09%

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana

• Lincoln Parish

32°36′N 92°40′W / 32.60°N 92.66°W / 32.60; -92.66