Formed March 26, 1877 (57th parish)
East Carroll Parish (7,460), Lake Providence (3,589)
The masonry and concrete Art Deco and Classical Revival courthouse of East Carroll Parish was built in 1937. The 1901 courthouse is located just south of the current facility. The structure is located at 1st Street and Hood Street. United States Highway 65 is one block east on First Street. J. W. Smith and Associates provided the designs. The courthouse has been enlarged. Carroll Parish was formed and Lake Providence was the first parish seat in 1832. The courthouse was relocated to Floyd in 1855. On March 26, 1877 Carroll Parish was divided into East Carroll and West Carroll as the 57th parish and Lake Providence was named seat of East Carroll Parish. The parish was originally part of Ouachita Parish. Carroll Parish is named in honor of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Lake Providence got its name from the belief of river traffickers that “it was an act of Providence” if they made it passed a nearby pirates’ cove.
East Carroll Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive). It has 5 Police Jury Members (legislative.) One District Court Judge serves East Carroll, Madison and Tensas parishes and One Justice Court Judge serves East Carroll Parish (judicial.) The parish is situated in northeast Louisiana, northeast of Monroe, Louisiana and northwest of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Arkansas is on its northern border and Mississippi on the east border. Its east border is the Mississippi River and its west border is Bayou Macon. The parish center is 6.7 miles Southwest of Lake Providence. The parish is surrounded clockwise by Arkansas and Mississippi and Madison, Richland, and West Carroll parishes.
The area of the parish is 442 square miles. It is 52 out of 64 in the state. It ranks 62 out of 64 in population in the state. It has a density of 16.9 persons per square mile making it 57 out of 64 in the state. East Carroll Parish has 48.1% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 65 enters from Arkansas on the north and exits into Madison Parish on the south. The parish is overall triangular but the river and bayou borders meander back and forth. Lake Providence is on the Mississippi River in the northern third of the parish. Lake Providence is the parish seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 48.1% of the parish population. The parish seat is pronounced LAEK PRA-VI-DENC.
Lake Providence
