Bastrop

City of Bastrop
City
Motto: The City of Pride, Spirit and Progress
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Morehouse
Elevation	167 ft (50.9 m)
Coordinates	32°46′40″N 91°54′54″W / 32.77778°N 91.915°W / 32.77778; -91.915
Area	8.4 sq mi (21.8 km2)
- land	8.4 sq mi (22 km2)
- water	0.0 sq mi (0 km2), 0%
Population	12,988 (2000)
Density	1,543.9 /sq mi (596.1 /km2)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	71220
Area code	318
Location of Bastrop in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States

Bastrop is a city in and the parish seat of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, United States.^[1] The population was 12,988 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Bastrop, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Monroe-Bastrop, Louisiana Combined Statistical Area.

History

Bastrop was founded by the Baron de Bastrop (born Felipe Enrique Neri), a Dutch embezzler who falsely claimed to be a nobleman. He had fled to the then Spanish colony of Louisiana to escape prosecution, and became involved in various land deals. He received a large grant of land, provided that he could settle 450 families on it over the next several years. However, he was unable to do this, and so lost the grant. Afterwards, he moved to Texas, where he claimed to oppose the sale of Louisiana to the United States, and became a minor government official. He proved instrumental in Moses Austin's plan (and later, that of his son, Stephen F. Austin) to bring American colonists to what was then northern Mexico.

Bastrop formally incorporated in 1857, and is the commercial and industrial center of Morehouse Parish. In the 19th century, it was notable as the western edge of the great north Louisiana swamp, but more favorable terrain resulted in the antebellum rail line connecting to Monroe, Louisiana, further to the south. During the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, Bastrop was the site of a relief camp for refugees. During World War II, it was also the site of POW camp where German prisoners were held.

Economics

The area economy is largely based on forestry, cotton farming, and rice farming, but has suffered from a long-term decline caused by progressive failure of the paper industry. Hunting, camping and fishing are popular area pastimes in the many bayous and river, and there is a minor amount tourism based on these. The Snyder Museum keeps information relating to local history and displays furniture typical of fine homes from the Civil War and early 20th century periods.

Attempts to diversify the economic base have met with very limited success; the area is becoming known as a center of retirement communities.^[2] Otherwise, In the last few years, the economy has all but collapsed due to loss of key industries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bastrop,_Louisiana&action=edit&section=2

Additional assets are businesses like Simmons Sporting Goods that draw customers from outside the parish; the U.S. 425 corridor from Little Rock through Bastrop; and medical facilities and services available in the community.

Employer Product/Service

Morehouse General Hospital

Healthcare services
Healthcare
295
www.mghospital.com

City of Bastrop

City government
Government
200
www.cityofbastrop.com 

Wal-Mart

Retail goods
Retail
200
www.walmart.com 

Simmons Sporting Goods

Retail sporting goods
Retail
80 - 100
www.simmonssportinggoods.com 

Hickory Manor Nursing Rehab Center

Nursing home and rehabilitation
Healthcare
50 - 100
 

RIMCOR Inc.

Refractories
Galvanizing 
90
www.rimcor.com 

Sonoco

Injection molded plastic & wood plugs for paper rolls
Plastics & wood mfg
43
www.sonoco.com 

SMI Companies

Fabrication
Fabrication
40
www.smicompanies.com

Jireh Plastics & Assemblies

Plastic auto part
Automotive parts mfg
10  
www.jirehplastics.com 

FABCO Industries

Industrial fabrication
Industrial fabrication
10
N/A

Bastrop Tank Wash

Industrial tank cleaning
Industrial tank cleaning
7
Bastrop

Capital One Bank

Financial services
Financial services
 

http://www.morehouseedc.org/economic_profile.html

IPC mill closing

On November 21, 2008, International Paper Company, the largest area employer, announced that it will cease operations of its Bastrop mill. The company said the closure is "indefinite" and subsequently confirmed that the exodus is "permanent".^[3] At least 550 workers will lose their jobs. Another two thousand employees in auxiliary businesses, some 17 percent of the area workforce, could also face layoffs or downsizing. Bastrop Mayor Clarence Hawkins said that he expected the impact to be spread throughout northeastern Louisiana and southern Arkansas because employees and suppliers come from all over the region.^[4]

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal deployed a Louisiana Work Force Commission team to open an information center in Bastrop. Jindal requested that U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander work for the extension of unemployment compensation for the displaced workers. Jindal indicated that he will pursue an economic transition plan for Morehouse Parish. The governor explained that the closure resulted because is "simply no market for [pulp] produced at this mill. I don't want to sugarcoat this. There would have to be a dramatic change in the world economy for it to reopen, and it would have to strengthen as quickly as it weakened." Jindal said the state offered "more direct assistance to International Paper than we have to any other company since I've been governor." The company, however, explained that the issue was no longer one of inducements to stay but the vanished market. The largest customer of the Louisiana mill was China, where orders ceased with international economic downturns and the tightening of credit markets.^[5]

Poultry plant shutdowns affect Bastrop

Three months after the announcement of the International Paper mill closing, Pilgrim's Pride, a poultry company, confirmed the closure of operations in nearby Arcadia in Bienville Parish, Athens in Claiborne Parish, Choudrant in Lincoln Parish, and Farmerville in Union Parish. The closings will cost this section of mid-North Louisiana a combined 1,300 jobs.^[6]

Robert C. Eisenstadt (born 1954), an economics professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, told the Shreveport Times that the closures, unlike previous exits of State Farm Insurance and International Paper, will have a disproportionate impact on lower-income workers: "This is our largest employer of low- to medium-skilled workers. In our area, there aren't a lot of good alternative opportunities for them and they don't have as many resources to leave the area for opportunity as did the workers at those other companies."^[6]

The closures will also impact Morehouse Parish. Bastrop Mayor Hawkins estimated about five hundred, or nearly half of the Pilgrim's Pride processing plant workers in Farmerville commuted from Bastrop, many in vans running on a regular schedule.^[6]

Meanwhile, Governor Jindal and the legislature, in a bid to save the jobs at stake, have moved to subsidize with $50 million from the state's megafund the incoming owner of the poultry plant, Foster Farms of California.^[7] Update: Foster Farms are the new occupants of the Pilgrim's Pride; as stated above . Foster Farms, with the help of the state of Louisiana, acquired the facility from the bankrupt Pilgrim’s Pride company, which announced in February it would idle the Farmerville and El Dorado, Ark. processing facilities May 9. Foster Farms has indicated that when the plant reaches full capacity, it will employ at least 1,100 plant employees with a corresponding payroll of over $24 million.

Foster Farms has begun extending contracts to Louisiana growers in advance of the July 16 plant opening.

At full capacity, the plant will process around 1.3 million chickens per week. Accounting for both direct and indirect economic effects, the Farmerville facility will lead to 3,970 total Louisiana jobs by 2011 and $379 million in annual economic output.

http://www.wdsu.com/money/20025956/detail.html

New Bastrop mayor

Betty Alford-Olive upset incumbent Mayor Clarence Hawkins in the primary election held on April 4, 2009, for the top position in city government. Alford-Olive polled 58 percent of the ballots. Her fellow Democrat, Hawkins, received 29 percent, and a third candidate, Troy L. Downs, garnered the remaining 12 percent. Alford-Olive, who is completing two terms on the city council, called her victory a sign that people want change in municipal government. "We hope to get small businesses to grow and involve the banking industry. We have to look at where the economy is emerging. We have to make sure we have a trained work force," said Alford-Olive.^[8]

Hawkins, meanwhile, has applied for a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Geography

Bastrop is located at 32°46′40″N 91°54′54″W / 32.77778°N 91.915°W / 32.77778; -91.915 (32.777855, -91.914944)^[9]. It is situated at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 425 and U.S. Highway 165. La. Highway 2 also runs through the town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.4 square miles (22 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census^[10] of 2000, there were 12,988 people, 4,723 households, and 3,301 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,543.9 people per square mile (596.3/km²). There were 5,292 housing units at an average density of 629.1/sq mi (243.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 34.67% White, 64.50% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.04% from other races, and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.

There were 4,723 households out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.0% were married couples living together, 28.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.1% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 82.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $20,418, and the median income for a family was $26,250. Males had a median income of $30,477 versus $15,813 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,769. About 29.6% of families and 35.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.2% of those under age 18 and 30.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Bastrop is governed by a mayor and board of alderman. Outgoing Mayor Clarence Hawkins is the first African-American to serve in the top municipal position in Bastrop history. He will be replaced on July 1, 2009, by city council member Betty Alford-Olive, who handily defeated him in the April 4 primary election. J.D. DeBlieux, who spent his later years in the Bastrop area, was perhaps the first white politician in Louisiana to support the civil rights agenda.

The Bastrop City Hall and Police Station were designed by native son Hugh G. Parker (1934-2007), who overcame childhood polio to become a significant architect in Louisiana.

Bastrop and Morehouse Parish are represented in the Louisiana House of Representatives by a Republican, the retired farmer Sam Little, who won his seat in the November 17, 2007, general election by a margin of only nine votes over the Bastrop dentist, Buddy M. Quinn.

Education

There are two branches of the Morehouse Parish Public Library System in Bastrop, the main branch of the Parish Library System and the Dunbar branch. There are two high schools; Bastrop High, which is a part of the Morehouse Parish School system, and Prairie View Academy, which is a private school serving grades 1-12. In addition, there is one postsecondary technical college; Louisiana Technical College-Bastrop Campus--this campus also has a second location near the Bastrop airport. http://www.region8.ltc.edu/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=86

Nearby colleges and universities within 25 miles radius: The Northeast region is home to University of Louisiana at Monroe and the Louisiana Delta College. http://www.morehouseedc.org/quality_of_life.html

Notable people

• Bob Love, NBA Basketball Player
• Mable John, Motown Records singer, was born in Bastrop.
• Ronnie Coleman, professional bodybuilder.
• Bill Dickey, Major League Baseball player.
• Sam Little, member of Louisiana House of Representatives
• Shane Reynolds, Major League Baseball player.
• Talance Sawyer, was also born in Bastrop and later played for the Minnesota Vikings.
• Matt DeVille, Tiger Rag Magazine editor from 2002-present. LSU sports writer, radio and television personality.
• John Wesley Ryles, Country singer was born in Bastrop in 1950.
• Twelve Gauge Valentine, a band, is from Bastrop.
• Stump Edington (1969), Major League Baseball player that died in Bastrop.
• Ed Head (1980), Major League Baseball player who died in Bastrop.
• Calvin Natt, National Basketball Association player who was born in Monroe, but attended Bastrop High School, later NLU and was an NBA All-Star with the Denver Nuggets.
• Clarence Hawkins , Former Bastrop Mayor presently U.S. Department of Agriculture state director
• James Earl Mayo, known as Jamie Mayo,is the current mayor of Monroe, the seat of Ouachita Parish in north Louisiana, United States

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ America Community: Bastrop, Louisiana, Preserve America is a national initiative in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the U.S. Departments of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities; and the President's Council on Environmental Quality.
3. ^ Greg, Hilburn, "Jindal visits region", Monroe News Star, December 13, 2008:http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20081213/NEWS01/812130312
4. ^ Greg Hilburn, "Bastrop mill closes; 550 lose jobs", Monroe News Star, November 22, 2008, p. 1:http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20081122/NEWS01/811220310&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
5. ^ Greg Hilburn, "Jindal: Bastrop is a top priority: State will do all it can to prop up community", Monroe News Star, November 25, 2008: http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20081125/NEWS01/811250309&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Greg Hilburn and Robbie Evans, "Pilgrim's Pride decision a bombshell: Sites closing in Arcadia, Athens, Choudrant, Farmerville". Shreveport Times. http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090301/NEWS05/903010307&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL. Retrieved March 1, 2009. 
7. ^ ""BRAC in the News: Blanco argues against use of megafund". Brac.org. http://www.brac.org/site.php?pageID=59&newsID=1026. Retrieved May 10, 2009. 
8. ^ Matthew Hamilton. "Alford-Olive unseats Hawkins in Bastrop upset". Monroe News-Star. http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20090405/NEWS01/904050315&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL. Retrieved May 10, 2009. 
9. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
10. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• City of Bastrop
• Bastrop Progress Community Progress Site for Bastrop, LA
• Bastrop Daily Enterprise
• [http://www.morehouseedc.org/index.html

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