Ouachita

Formed March 31, 1807 (8^th parish)

Ouachita Parish (160,364), Monroe (47,700)

The masonry Classical Revival building which is the parish courthouse was built in 1924.  The structure is located on Grand at Wood Street.  Interstate Highway 20 passes four blocks south of the courthouse.  The building was enlarged in 1968 and renovated in 1956 and 2001.  An Annex have been built next to the courthouse.  Originally called Fort Miro, Monroe has been the only seat of this parish.  There was an earlier courthouse in Monroe built in 1883.  Ouachita Parish was one of the original (8^th parish) divisions formed on March 31, 1807 but gave much of its original size to other parishes.  The building overlooks the Ouachita River and has a large city park on the back.  J. W. Smith and H. H. Land are the designers of this facility.  The parish is named for a Native American tribe.  The parish seat was named for United States President James Monroe.  Ouachita Parish was the birthplace of 1 Louisiana Governor, Samuel D. McEnery. 

Ouachita Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive).  It has 6 Police Jury Members (legislative.)  Twelve District Court Judges serve Ouachita and Morehouse parishes and Six Justice Court Judges serve Ouachita Parish (judicial.) The parish is in northeast Louisiana, east of Shreveport, Louisiana and west of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  The parish center is 9.4 miles Southwest of Monroe nearer Brownsville-Bawcomville.  The parish is surrounded clockwise by Morehouse, Richland, Caldwell, Jackson, Lincoln, and Union parishes. 

The area of the parish is 633 square miles.  It is 42 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 8 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 253.3 persons per square mile making it 7 out of 64 in the state.  Ouachita Parish has 41.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 20 crosses east to west from Richland Parish to Lincoln Parish.  United States Highway 80 parallels Interstate Highway 20 from Richland to Lincoln parishes.  United States Highway 165 comes from Morehouse Parish on the northeast and exits south into Caldwell Parish.  A bowl of popcorn best describes the shape of the parish.  Bayou Lafourche is the eastern border.  Monroe is north and slightly east of the parish center.  Monroe is the parish seat and the largest city.  It is 29.7% of the parish population.  The parish is pronounced WASH-I-TA.  This parish is in the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area.

West Monroe