St. James is one of the state's nineteen original parishes, created by act of the territorial legislature, March 31, 1807. The original seat of government was the community of St. James, on the west bank of the Mississippi, but this was moved in 1869 to what is now Convent, on the east bank. St. James Parish is part of the Acadian Coast. While it is possible that some Acadians did arrive prior to 1755 or between 1755 and 1764, the first documented group of Acadians arrived in New Orleans in February 1764. The arrival was documented in a letter dated April 6, 1764, from Governor D'Abbadie to his superior in France. They were settled along the Mississippi River in present-day St. James. St. James is known for its tradition, Bonfires on the Levee, which takes place every Christmas Eve. Residents build large bonfires along the Riverlevee, lighting them all at nightfall. The townsfolk tell the children that the purpose of this tradition is so Papa Noel can easily see his way down the Mississippi as he is delivering gifts. St. James is the only cultivation site in the world for Periquetobacco, introduced by an Acadian exile, Pierre Chenet, whose nickname was "Perique." It has been produced by his descendants for nearly two centuries and is in great demand by large tobacco companies.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the fourth-smallest parish in Louisiana by land area and second-smallest by total area.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 22,102 people living in the parish. 50.6% were Black or African American, 48.0% White, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.4% of some other race and 0.7% of two or more races. 1.2% were Hispanic or Latino. As of the census of 2000, there were 21,216 people, 6,992 households, and 5,551 families living in the parish. The population density was 86 people per square mile. There were 7,605 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile. The racial makeup of the parish was 49.99% White, 49.38% Black, 0.09% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.37% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 93.78% of the population spoke only Englishat home, while 4.97% spoke French or Cajun French . There were 6,992 households out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couplesliving together, 19.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.60% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.43. In the parish the population was spread out with 29.50% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.40 males. The median income for a household in the parish was $35,277, and the median income for a family was $41,751. Males had a median income of $37,487 versus $21,712 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $14,381. 20.70% of the population and 18.00% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 27.70% are under the age of 18 and 15.10% are 65 or older.
The current parish president is Timmy Roussel. In 2016, Roussel was indicted on corruption charges for having parish employees build a private natural gas line. St. James Parish is strongly Democratic, although in 2016 Donald Trump came within ten percent of carrying the parish. The last Republican to win a majority of the parish’s vote was Warren G. Harding in 1920, when Louisiana’s Acadian population revolted against Woodrow Wilson because of his bitter disagreement with French PresidentGeorges Clemenceau. Dwight D. Eisenhower won a 17-vote plurality in 1956, and Richard Nixon also won a plurality in his 2,900-plus-county 1972 landslide.
