La Salle

Formed January 1, 1910 (61^st parish)

La Salle Parish (14,797), Jena (4,156)                

The small structure to the stone 1968 Modern courthouse is very non-descript.  The structure is located on Louisiana State Highway 127 at Courthouse.  United States Highway 84 is two blocks south of the site.  There was an earlier courthouse built in Jena in 1910.  The parish was created on January 1, 1910 from Catahoula Parish as the 61^st parish with Jena as the only parish seat.  The building architects are Barron, Heinberg, and Brocato.  The seat for the parish gets its name from Jena, Illinois which is named for the Germany city of Jena.  French explorer Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, is the namesake for the parish. 

La Salle Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive).  It has 10 Police Jury Members (legislative.)  One District Court Judge and Five Justice Court Judges serve La Salle Parish (judicial.) The parish is in central Louisiana to the northeast of Alexandria, Louisiana.  The parish center is 5.9 miles West-Northwest of Jena nearer Trout.  The parish is surrounded clockwise by Caldwell, Catahoula, Avoyelles, Rapides, Grant, and Winn parishes. 

The area of the parish is 663 square miles.  It is 34 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 52 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 22.3 persons per square mile making it 52 out of 64 in the state.  La Salle Parish has 43.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 165 cuts the northwest corner of the parish coming from Caldwell Parish, north, and going into Grant Parish, west.  The parish’s shape resembles a knife blade.  Jena is slightly east of center in the parish.  Jena is the parish seat and the largest city.  It is 28.1% of the parish population.  The parish is pronounced LA SAL.  The seat is pronounced JEE-NA.

Tullos