| Communities | Economy | History / Markers | Local Government |
| Location / Geography | Media | Parks and Recreation | Schools and Libraries |
| Parish Map | Top of page | ||
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Unincorporated areas of interest in the parish include Bayou Barbary, Clio, Corbin, Denson, Doyle, Friendship, Frost, Head of Island, Holden, Little River, Lockhart, Magnolia, Maurepas, Oldfield, Plainview, Poley, Satsuma, Springville, Starns, Verdun, Watson, Weiss and White Hall. |
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Blind River Lake Maurepas Natalbany River Petite Amite River Tickfaw River |
French Settlement Hebron Baptist Church Hungarian Settlement Livingston Parish Macedonia Baptist Church Maurepas Island Maurepas Island Port Vincent Springfield |
History | |
| 1699 |
The Florida parishes had been the home of isolated groups of Native Americans for thousands of years. These Indians were hunters and gatherers and their presence near the lakes and bayous is still marked by huge piles of shells that were gathered for food and left in large mounds called middens. These mounds were used for elevated living areas and burial grounds. Most Indians still in the area after the Europeans arrived were either Tunica or Choctaw and many place names are of Choctaw origin. Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur de Iberville, who was exploring the Mississippi for French colonization in 1699, returned from the Red River to the French base in Mississippi via the Iberville River, the Amite River and lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, all of which he named. The route took him through the lower reaches of Livingston Parish. |
| 1763 |
The Florida Parishes, however, were disputed territory, for the Spanish had claimed the entire gulf coast many years before. When the Treaty of Paris of 1763 created West Florida and turned it over to the English, the number of settlers counted 500, mostly Frenchmen and their slaves. |
| 1779 |
Spain, which had recaptured the territory from England in 1779, still possessed Florida after the Louisiana Purchase. |
| 1779 |
During the disputed years of the last quarter of the 18th century the area of Livingston Parish was settled by Acadians fleeing English tyranny in Canada, loyalists fleeing the American Revolution on the east coast and even Germans moving north from French-established colonies on the west bank of the Mississippi River. With the purchase of Louisiana by the United States in 1803 a flood of English-speaking settlers arrived. |
| 1803 |
The parish was named after Edward Livingston, a member of a prominent New York family who moved to New Orleans in 1803, eventually became a senator, a minister to France, Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson and also reformed much of the criminal and civil code of the state. |
| 1805 |
When the Territory of Orleans is divided into counties the present-day Livingston Parish is part of Spanish West Florida |
| 1805 |
The rapidly growing communities of Americans resented the corrupt Spanish administration and, in 1805, the Kemper Rebellion resulted. The rebels were chased into the Mississippi Territory where they were protected by American forces. During this time the famous Aaron Burr incident was another attempt to free West Florida.
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| 1810 |
Finally in September of 1810 the rebels captured the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge and a month later the free State of West Florida became a territory of the United States by presidential proclamation. |
| 1812 |
During the Spanish occupation Livingston was part of the St. Helena District. When Louisiana became a state in 1812 it was part of St. Helena County, which extended from the 31st parallel south to Bayou Manchac and the Amite River and from the Amite River on the west to the Ponchatoula River on the east.
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| 1832 |
On February 10, 1832 St. Helena Parish is divided in half and the Louisiana Legislature created Livingston Parish. A small portion of land was added on the southern border in 1850.
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| 1835 |
Some farming has been carried on in the southern part of the parish since the earliest settlers arrived in the mid-1700s. Cotton was the most important crop for many years but most of the cash income was obtained from the sale of timber products and furs. By 1835 several small industries were thriving in the area, notably sawmills and brick factories. The timber industry brought the railroads through in the early part of this century, changing commercial and residential patterns. In 1835 the seat of government made the first of its many moves when the Legislature voted to move it from Van Buren to Springfield. The courthouse has also been located in Port Vincent (1872-1881), Centerville (Springville, 1881-1941), and finally, Livingston, in 1941. |
| 1869 |
Macedonia Baptist Church is organized In Livingston Parish in 1856. The existing building constructed in 1898 and is the Oldest Baptist church building in Livingston Parish. Drinking water furnished by ground water spring. Surrounding area settled by Anglo-Saxon Protestants in 1800s. |
| 1869 |
The area between the Ponchatoula River and The Natalbany River is used to create Tangipahoa Parish. |
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The Livingston Parish School System includes 22 elementary and middle schools, 9 secondary schools and a special education facility. There is a private school in Livingston parish to provide an alternative for students not attending public schools. All public and private schools are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and the Louisiana Independent School Association. ACT average score is 20.0 for the parishËs schools. This is slightly above the regional average of 19.4 and below the national average of 20.6. Currently the percentages of graduating seniors attending college are 48.32% for the public schools. Annual cost in public funds to provide schooling is $2,462 per student, with a pupil-to teacher ratio of 19.93:1. Parish enrollment is approximately 16,593 students. |
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Vocational training is available at Baton Rouge Regional Vocational Technical Institute, a state-funded facility in Baton Rouge, and in the vocational program of the parish schools. The Florida Parishes Vocational-Technical School in Greensburg and the Hammond Area Vo-Tech School are also located nearby and available to parish residents. Vocational training includes welding, auto mechanics, small engine repair, business, LPN nursing, machine shop, wood working, drafting and instrumentation. To assure that new and expanding businesses have a continuing pool of workers with the level of education and expertise necessary for their operations, the area’s colleges and universities, vocational/technical schools and high schools graduate trained and entry-level persons year round. Schools at all levels are augmenting their general education missions with programs explicitly connected with employment possibilities for their students. This is seen in secondary schools in career education curricula and programs such as adopt-a-school through which business contributes resources, curriculum guidance and, in some cases, instruction, counseling and the promise of jobs for graduates. Community colleges are increasing their industry-specific training and colleges and universities are developing partnerships with industry that involve human as well as technological development. |
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Education |
Within an hourËs drive of Livingston Parish are eleven major colleges or universities. Five of these offer doctoral degrees in the arts, sciences, engineering, medical and legal fields. These universities are nationally and internationally recognized as sponsoring extensive research activities. Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) 5 miles Louisiana State University (LSU) 15 miles Tulane University 60 miles Southern University 15 miles Southern Univ. @ New Orleans (SUNO) 60 miles University of New Orleans (UNO) 60 miles LSU Medical Center 60 miles Tulane University Medical Center 60 miles Loyola University 60 miles Xavier University 60 miles Dillard University 60 miles |
| Nearby Hammond is the proud home of Southeastern Louisiana University. Over 10,000 students each semester pursue degrees on this beautiful, tree shaded campus marked by the distinctive, dedicated facility. The university, offering associate, bachelorËs and masterËs degrees in a wide variety of fields, is divided into the College of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education and the School of Nursing. Degrees are offered in 90 academic disciplines. Southeastern offers many courses at night to accommodate the growing number of non-traditional students who are interested in pursuing a degree. Additionally, the university is a cultural mecca for the entire region. Throughout the year, Southeastern offers concerts, drama, musicals, art exhibits and distinguished lectures for its facility, staff, students and the public. Other items of note about the university: € SoutheasternËs College of Business is among the most elite in the nation and has been granted unconditional accreditation by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. Only 12% of all college-based schools of business in the nation have received this Accreditation. € SoutheasternËs Industrial Technology Department is one of the 35 in the nation to be accredited by the National Association of Industrial Technology. The department recently placed first in national competition and second in international competition at the 17th International Symposium on Industrial Robots. € 97% of the students in SoutheasternËs College of Education passed the 1989 National TeacherËs Exam. € SoutheasternËs Honors Program was one of only a dozen or so in the country and the only one in Louisiana to receive national recognition for excellence in nationwide study by the National Endowment for the Humanities. € SoutheasternËs menËs tennis team not only has the best Division I winning record over the last three years, but the nationËs highest overall academic averages‹a 3.5 GPA. € SoutheasternËs October ³Fanfare,² a month-long celebration of the arts and humanities has attracted over 13,000 people. It promises to be a major cultural event in Louisiana in the coming years. € SLU University Center, a 7,500 seat, 15,000 square-foot arena serves Southeastern and the community in attracting small conventions and providing excellent facilities for athletic and social events. The Center has parking spaces for approximately 2,500 cars. |
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Education |
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Director - Allen Cunningham P. O. Drawer 397 Livingston, LA 70754-0397 Email - 7 Branches - Albany, Denham Springs, French Settlement, Killian, Maurepas, Springfield, Watson Livingston Parish enjoys an excellent state-supported public library system. The library is located in the Livingston Parish Courthouse, with a head librarian and a staff of eleven. Volumes in the library total in excess of 100,000, with approximately 170 new additions per month. The facilities offer reading and other reference materials, such as periodicals, films and audio materials for all ages. There are eight branch libraries located in Albany, Denham Springs-Walker, French Settlement, Holden, Killian, Maurepas, Springfield and Watson. A childrenËs reading program is available during the summer. The State Library, LSU and Southeastern Louisiana University are located within one half hour of Livingston. The large collections at the university libraries are available to parish residents. American Library Directory 1999-2000, R. R. Bowker |
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