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Monroe, Louisiana[1] | |
|---|---|
 Downtown Monroe | |
 Seal | |
| Nickname: Twin Cities of Northeast Louisiana (along with West Monroe) | |
| Motto: "Oneroe" | |
 Location of Monroe in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana | |
  Monroe Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 32°30′34″N 92°07′06″W / 32.50944°N 92.11833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Louisiana |
| Parish | Ouachita |
| Founded | 1785 |
| Incorporated (town) | 1845 |
| Incorporated (city) | 1906 |
| Named for | the steamboat James Monroe |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Friday Ellis (I) |
| • City Council | Members List |
| Area | |
| • City | 32.91 sq mi (85.23 km2) |
| • Land | 29.66 sq mi (76.80 km2) |
| • Water | 3.25 sq mi (8.42 km2) |
| Elevation | 72 ft (22 m) |
| Population | |
| • City | 47,702 |
| • Estimate (2022)[5] | 46,820 |
| • Rank | US: 857th LA: 8th |
| • Density | 1,608.57/sq mi (621.08/km2) |
| • Urban | 119,964 (US: 280th) |
| • Metro | 222,695 (US: 212nd) |
| Urban area includes Monroe-West Monroe | |
| Demonym | Monroyan |
| Time zone | UTC–6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC–5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes | 71201, 71202, 71203, 71207, 71209, 71210, 71211, 71212, 71213, 71217 |
| Area code | 318 |
| FIPS code | 22-51410 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2404283[3] |
| Sales tax | 10.44%[6] |
| Website | monroela.us |
Monroe is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702,[4] it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical area, the second-largest metropolitan area in North Louisiana. Pecanland Mall is located in Monroe.
Etymology
As governor of Louisiana, Esteban Rodríguez Miró had Fort Miro built in 1791.[7] Fort Miro changed its name to Monroe to commemorate the first arrival of the steamboat James Monroe in the spring of 1820.[8] The ship's arrival was the single event, in the minds of local residents, that transformed the outpost into a town.
Credit for the name is indirectly given to James Monroe of Virginia, the fifth President of the United States, for whom the ship was named. The steamboat is depicted in a mural at the main branch of the Ouachita Parish Public Library.
History
Early history–late 20th century
Monroe's origins date back to the Spanish colonial period.
As the 19th century began, the entire Ouachita Valley region... was part of Spanish colonial holdings. Ouachita Parish encompassed the area between the Red and the Mississippi Rivers, from north of Concordia and Rapides Parish to the Missouri. The area was sparsely populated, primarily by itinerant hunters and trappers until late in the 18th century. Under Spanish colonial rule, Jean Baptiste Filhiol was sent from South Louisiana to oversee the settlement of the Poste du Ouachita in 1781. In 1785 Filhiol designated Prairie des Canots, now Monroe... as the governmental center of the Poste du Ouachita. In response to a petition by the settlers, a fortification was built in 1791 and named Fort Miro in honor of the Spanish governor, Estavan Miro.
— Susan Sirmans, Pharmacy and Medicine in Nineteenth-Century Ouachita Parish, Louisiana[9]
Fort Miro changed its name to Monroe to commemorate the first arrival of the steamboat James Monroe in the spring of 1820 (see "Etymology" above).[8]
In 1913, Joseph A. Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola, moved to Monroe from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Biedenharn and his son Malcolm were among the founders of Delta Air Lines, originally Delta Dusters. That company was founded in Tallulah, Louisiana in Madison Parish. It was based on products and processes developed by the Agriculture Experimental Station to dust crops from airplanes in order to combat the devastating effects that the boll weevil had on cotton crops. Biedenharn's home and gardens have been preserved and are now operated as the Biedenharn Museum and Gardens and are open to the public.[10]
Collett E. Woolman, the Ouachita Parish agent, was originally from Indiana. He pioneered crop dusting to eradicate the boll weevil, which destroyed cotton throughout the Mississippi Delta in the early 20th century. Woolman originated the first crop-dusting service in the world.[11] The collapse of cotton production meant a widespread loss of farm jobs, which contributed to the early-20th-century Great Migration, when a total of 1.5 million African-Americans left the rural South for jobs in northern and midwestern cities. They were also escaping the oppressive racial conditions and violence under Jim Crow and the disenfranchisement that excluded most blacks from the political system. Howard D. Griffin (1911-1986) purchased a boat dealership in 1936 while a student at what became the University of Louisiana Monroe. By the 1960s, Griffin's company had become the world's largest outboard motor dealership, and he also sold motorcycles. From 1955 to 1985, Griffin and his wife, Birdie M. Griffin (1915-1985), operated their seasonal Land O' Toys store in Monroe.[12]
Geography
Located in northeastern Louisiana, Monroe is the center of the Monroe metropolitan statistical area. It is the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, and northeastern Louisiana's economic and cultural hub. Monroe has an elevation of 72 feet (21.9 m) above sea level.[13] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.6 square miles (83.9 km2), of which, 28.7 square miles (74.3 km2) is land and 3.7 square miles (9.6 km2) is water. The total area is 11.46% water.
Climate
Monroe has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). Rainfall is abundant, with the normal annual precipitation averaging over 51 inches (1.3 m). Monthly averages range from less than 3 inches (76 mm) in August to more than 5 inches (130 mm) in June. Severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail, damaging winds and tornadoes occur in the area during the spring and summer months.
The winter months are normally mild, with an average of 35 days of freezing or below-freezing temperatures per year, with ice and sleet storms possible. Summer months are hot and humid, with maximum temperatures exceeding 90 degrees an average of 91 days per year, with high to very high relative average humidity, sometimes exceeding the 90 percent level.
| Climate data for Monroe, Louisiana (Monroe Regional Airport), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 86 (30) |
89 (32) |
95 (35) |
97 (36) |
104 (40) |
108 (42) |
109 (43) |
108 (42) |
107 (42) |
101 (38) |
90 (32) |
89 (32) |
109 (43) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 75.6 (24.2) |
78.7 (25.9) |
84.2 (29.0) |
88.2 (31.2) |
92.7 (33.7) |
96.5 (35.8) |
99.5 (37.5) |
100.2 (37.9) |
97.2 (36.2) |
90.9 (32.7) |
82.8 (28.2) |
78.0 (25.6) |
101.3 (38.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 57.0 (13.9) |
61.1 (16.2) |
69.1 (20.6) |
76.8 (24.9) |
84.4 (29.1) |
90.5 (32.5) |
93.2 (34.0) |
93.6 (34.2) |
88.7 (31.5) |
78.8 (26.0) |
67.3 (19.6) |
59.0 (15.0) |
76.6 (24.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 46.8 (8.2) |
50.7 (10.4) |
58.1 (14.5) |
65.5 (18.6) |
73.8 (23.2) |
80.3 (26.8) |
82.8 (28.2) |
82.5 (28.1) |
77.1 (25.1) |
66.3 (19.1) |
55.6 (13.1) |
48.8 (9.3) |
65.7 (18.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 36.7 (2.6) |
40.2 (4.6) |
47.2 (8.4) |
54.2 (12.3) |
63.1 (17.3) |
70.1 (21.2) |
72.5 (22.5) |
71.4 (21.9) |
65.5 (18.6) |
53.7 (12.1) |
43.9 (6.6) |
38.6 (3.7) |
54.8 (12.7) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 21.3 (−5.9) |
26.0 (−3.3) |
30.6 (−0.8) |
38.8 (3.8) |
50.0 (10.0) |
61.6 (16.4) |
66.6 (19.2) |
64.9 (18.3) |
52.4 (11.3) |
37.8 (3.2) |
28.4 (−2.0) |
24.4 (−4.2) |
19.7 (−6.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −1 (−18) |
−2 (−19) |
18 (−8) |
31 (−1) |
39 (4) |
51 (11) |
55 (13) |
51 (11) |
35 (2) |
29 (−2) |
19 (−7) |
5 (−15) |
−2 (−19) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 5.15 (131) |
4.65 (118) |
5.21 (132) |
5.83 (148) |
4.43 (113) |
4.45 (113) |
3.94 (100) |
3.56 (90) |
3.55 (90) |
4.95 (126) |
4.16 (106) |
5.22 (133) |
55.10 (1,400) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.6 (1.5) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.9 (2.3) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 10.2 | 9.7 | 9.8 | 8.3 | 9.7 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 7.6 | 6.8 | 7.5 | 8.2 | 9.9 | 106.2 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
| Source: NOAA (snow 1981–2010)[14][15][16] | |||||||||||||
Notable natural disasters
March 2016 flood
In March 2016, rainfall amounts ranging between 15 and 20 inches fell area-wide over 3 days, more than any 3-day period ever previously recorded. In Ouachita Parish alone, there were 9,500 homes with flood damage, and 5,400 were completely flooded. More than 1,700 high-water rescues were performed.[17]
2020 tornado
As part of the 2020 Easter tornado outbreak, on April 12, the community was struck by a low-end EF3 tornado. Damage was severe, but there were no deaths or injuries due to advance warnings.[18]
Demographics
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 435 | — | |
| 1870 | 1,949 | — | |
| 1880 | 2,070 | 6.2% | |
| 1890 | 3,256 | 57.3% | |
| 1900 | 5,428 | 66.7% | |
| 1910 | 10,209 | 88.1% | |
| 1920 | 12,675 | 24.2% | |
| 1930 | 26,028 | 105.3% | |
| 1940 | 28,309 | 8.8% | |
| 1950 | 38,572 | 36.3% | |
| 1960 | 52,219 | 35.4% | |
| 1970 | 56,374 | 8.0% | |
| 1980 | 57,597 | 2.2% | |
| 1990 | 54,909 | −4.7% | |
| 2000 | 53,107 | −3.3% | |
| 2010 | 48,815 | −8.1% | |
| 2020 | 47,702 | −2.3% | |
| 2022 (est.) | 46,820 | [5] | −1.8% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[19] 2020 Census[4] | |||