Zachary, Louisiana

History

Much of the land which the city now occupies was part of a 160-acre (65 ha) farm owned by Darel Zachary (1827-1907). In the 1880s, Zachary sold his land to the Illinois Central Railroad, who built a track and a depot on it. A village quickly grew up around the depot, which came to be called "Zachary" after the original farmer. Zachary's first post office was opened in 1885, and it was incorporated as a city on August 2, 1889, with Thomas Edward McHugh as its first mayor. A fire devastated the city in 1903, supposedly caused by a greengrocer trying to flame-ripen his bananas. The "historic village" at the center of the city is composed of buildings which either survived the fire, or were built shortly after it, the oldest (excluding the depot) being the 1898 Allison House. The first census was carried out in 1914 and reported just 419 residents. Zachary was the first city in Louisiana since the Reconstruction Era to elect a Republican as mayor, Jack Louis Breaux.

Geography

Zachary is located in northern East Baton Rouge Parish at 30°39′18″N 91°9′24″W (30.655085, −91.156781). It is bordered to the north by the city of Slaughter, to the east by Central, and to the south by Baker. Louisiana Highway 19 passes through the city, leading north 5 miles (8 km) to the center of Slaughter and south 9 miles (14 km) to U.S. Route 61 in the northern part of Baton Rouge.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Zachary has a total area of 24.0 square miles (62.1 km²), of which 23.9 square miles (62.0 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²), or 0.13%, is water.

Government and infrastructure

The United States Postal Service operates the Zachary Post Office.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,275 people, 3,836 households, and 3,064 families residing in the city. The population density was 475.2 people per square mile (183.5/km²). There were 4,076 housing units at an average density of 171.8 per square mile (66.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 69.76% White, 28.72% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.32% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.

There were 3,836 households out of which 43.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.2% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.1% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.26.

The population was spread out across age groups with 30.0% under 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males in the same age range.

The median income for a household in the city was $49,669, and the median income for a family was $57,389. Males had a median income of $45,092 versus $25,143 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,554. About 6.9% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Education

Zachary residents are served by the Zachary Community School Board.

The Zachary Community School System separated from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in 2003.

East Baton Rouge Parish Library operates the Zachary Branch. In 1939 the library initially opened in the former town hall, and it subsequently moved to a former post office; a third building; and in 1966, in a structure attached to the Louisiana National Bank building. The library later began using the meeting room in the bank building. The current library opened on May 4, 2004, in a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) structure on land purchased by the EBR library system in 2001. The groundbreaking for that building, designed by Cockfield - Jackson Architects, was held in December 2002.