About Livingston
Livingston Parish
Livingston is a town in and the parish seat of Livingston Parish. The communities of Doyle and
Livingston, combined in 1955 to create the Town of Livingston. Doyle was established northeast
of present day Livingston, located on Hog Branch off of present day North Doyle Road but moved
when the Railroad was built from Baton Rouge to Hammond and the community was re-located in 1901
by the McDonald Family.
Livingston was started by the Lyon’s Lumber Company in 1916 as a logging community on 63 acers
just west of Doyle to support their logging industry and timber mill in the Garyville,
Louisiana, located south of Livingston on the Mississippi River. Therefore making Garyville and
Livingston sister cities. When Livingston was built there was a house on every lot, a board walk
in front of every home and water wells drilled on every corner so every home would have access
to running water.
Livingston was originally part of the St. Helena District. In 1832, St. Helena was divided in
half and the Louisiana legislature created Livingston Parish. It was named for Edward
Livingston, a prominent statesman who served as a senator, a minister to France, and Secretary
of State under Andrew Jackson.
By 1835 several small industries were thriving in the area, notably sawmills and brick
factories. The timber industry brought the railroads through in the early part of this century,
changing commercial and residential patterns. With the construction of modern highways and the
encroachment of metropolitan Baton Rouge, Livingston Parish continues to attract residents as
well as businesses. The parish is located between the state capitol at Baton Rouge and the city
of New Orleans.
Hurricane Katrina had a dramatic effect on the population in Livingston Parish. Many displaced
families of the affected Parishes have moved into the area and as a result, the population of
the parish has increased significantly. On June 6, 2007, the Census Bureau published a report
“Special Population Estimates for Impacted Counties in the Gulf Coast Area” which shows a
population increase for Livingston Parish to 111,863 as of January 1, 2006.
The parish has a total area of 703 square miles (1,820 km²), of which, 648 square miles (1,678
km²) of it is land and 55 square miles (142 km²) of it (7.80%) is water.
The parish is 32 miles long by 30 miles wide. The northern part of the parish consists of
rolling terrain covered by pine and hardwood forests about 50 feet above sea level. In the
southern end of the parish, the land submerges into rich cypress forests and marshes that border
on Lake Maurepas and the Amite River.
Population
As of the census of 2010, there were 128,026 people, and 44,166 households. The population density was 197.5 people per square mile (55/km²). There were 51,607 housing units.
Cities and Towns in Livingston Parish
Albany
225-567-1101Livingston
225-686-7153Port Vincent
225-698-9891Walker
225-665-4356Denham Springs
225-665-8121Springfield
225-294-3150Killian
225-695-6785