West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

West Feliciana Parish is a civil parish in Louisiana, United States, on the east bank of the Mississippi River about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. It had a population of 15,310 at the 2020 census and covers 403 square miles (1,040 km2) of land plus 23 square miles (60 km2) of water, centred near 30°47′N 91°22′W.

St. Francisville is the parish seat, and its postal code is 70775. The parish has one incorporated town, one large census-designated place at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and a scatter of unincorporated crossroads communities. It sits in the Central time zone and forms part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area.

Towns & Villages in West Feliciana Parish

Outside St. Francisville, most of the parish is open farmland, bluff forest, and river bottom, and its remaining named places are unincorporated communities, plantation-era place names, and river landings rather than incorporated towns.

ZIP Codes

• 70775 — St. Francisville (also serves most parish addresses, including Bains, Starhill, and Weyanoke)
• 70712 — Angola (Louisiana State Penitentiary)

The scattered river landings and rural crossroads named above have no ZIP code of their own and are addressed under St. Francisville.

Geography

West Feliciana sits on the loess-capped hills of the Tunica Hills region, a rare belt of steep, forested bluffs along the lower Mississippi River, in contrast to the flat delta land found across most of south Louisiana. The Mississippi River forms the parish’s western and southwestern boundary. West Feliciana Parish borders:

• Wilkinson County, Mississippi — north
• East Feliciana Parish — east
• East Baton Rouge Parish — south (across the Mississippi River)
• Pointe Coupee Parish — west (across the Mississippi River)

Demographics

West Feliciana Parish had 15,310 residents at the 2020 census. St. Francisville, the seat, is the parish’s only incorporated municipality at 1,557 people; Angola, the census-designated place built around the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is the parish’s largest population concentration outside St. Francisville because the prison’s incarcerated population is counted there. The parish’s 2023 ACS median household income figure is not separately reported at the Wikipedia level used here; Louisiana’s statewide 2023 ACS median household income is $58,229. Population density works out to roughly 38 people per square mile of land.

Economy & Local Life

The parish economy centres on two large, distinct employers: the River Bend Nuclear Generating Station, which produces about 10% of Louisiana’s electricity, and the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, one of the largest maximum-security prisons in the country and a major parish employer in its own right. Away from those two sites, West Feliciana’s economy runs on agriculture, forestry, and heritage tourism built around St. Francisville’s antebellum plantation homes, including Rosedown Plantation. The Angola Prison Rodeo, held on weekends each October, is the parish’s best-known annual event and draws visitors from across the region.

History

West Feliciana Parish was created in 1824, when the original Feliciana Parish was split into West Feliciana and East Feliciana as its population grew. The Feliciana name honours Marie Félicité de Gálvez, and the area traces its earliest European settlement to a Capuchin mission at Bayou Sara in the late 1600s. St. Francisville grew up on the bluff above Bayou Sara because the low-lying river landing repeatedly flooded, and the town’s narrow ridge-top layout, famously “two miles long and two yards wide,” still shapes its street grid today. The parish adopted a home rule charter form of government in 2013.

Getting There

U.S. Route 61 runs north–south through the parish about three miles east of downtown St. Francisville, and Louisiana Highway 61 (Business), Highway 10, and Highway 1 connect the town to the surrounding communities. Louisiana Highway 10 crosses the Mississippi River on the John James Audubon Bridge, linking St. Francisville directly to New Roads in Pointe Coupee Parish.

• Baton Rouge — 30 miles south
• New Roads — 12 miles west, via the Audubon Bridge
• Natchez, Mississippi — 35 miles north
• Jackson, Louisiana (East Feliciana Parish) — 16 miles east

The nearest commercial airport is Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport. The nearest Amtrak service is the Crescent Line station in Hammond, roughly 60 miles to the southeast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is West Feliciana Parish?
It is in southeastern Louisiana on the east bank of the Mississippi River, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge.

What is the St. Francisville postcode?
St. Francisville’s ZIP code is 70775.

What is the population of West Feliciana Parish?
The parish had a population of 15,310 at the 2020 census.

What is the parish seat of West Feliciana Parish?
St. Francisville is the county seat.

What is West Feliciana Parish known for?
It is known for the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, the River Bend Nuclear Generating Station, and St. Francisville’s antebellum plantation homes.

What county borders West Feliciana Parish to the north?
Wilkinson County, Mississippi, borders it to the north.

When was West Feliciana Parish created?
It was created in 1824, when the original Feliciana Parish was divided into West Feliciana and East Feliciana.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Louisiana.