Jennings is a small city in and the parish seat of Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States,[1] near Lake Charles. The population was 10,986 at the 2000 census.
Jennings is the principal city of the Jennings Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Jefferson Davis Parish. It is also part of the larger Lake Charles-Jennings Combined Statistical Area.
Jennings McComb, for whom the town was named, was a contractor of the Southern Pacific Railroad. He built the Jennings depot on a divide peculiar to southwest Louisiana.
The first settler was A. D. McFarlain, who came from St. Mary Parish, in 1881. This energetic young man was the community’s first rice grower, first merchant, first postmaster, first brick maker, and first builder. McFarlain prospered with Jennings’ growth and later became one of the town’s most prominent business men and civic leaders. He opened a store in Jennings in 1881.
The Jennings area was settled by Anglo wheat farmers of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and other Midwestern states. The new settlers of southwest Louisiana were referred to as "Yankees" by the natives. The Cajuns proved to be good and helpful neighbors and gave appreciable aid to the settlers in homesteading and homemaking. The people grew rice, cotton, sweet potatoes and corn.[2] As of the census of 2000, there were 10,986 people, 4,090 households, and 2,875 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,072.6 people per square mile (414.2/km²). There were 4,541 housing units at an average density of 443.4 per square mile (171.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 70.42% White, 28.00% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.92% of the population. To find out more about Jennings click Statistics.
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