Convent (French: Couvent) is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States.[2] It has been the parish seat since 1869. It is part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area .

Convent, Louisiana
Census-designated place
Convent, Louisiana Location of Convent in Louisiana
Coordinates: 30°01′15″N 90°49′47″W
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	St. James
Area [1]
• Total	5.33 sq mi (13.81 km2)
• Land	3.89 sq mi (10.07 km2)
• Water	1.44 sq mi (3.74 km2)
Elevation	20 ft (6 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	483
• Density	124.26/sq mi (47.97/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code	70723
Area code	225
FIPS code	22-17180

As of the 2010 census, its population was 711,[3] and 2018 estimates put the parish at 2174 people, 61% of whom were African American.[4] The 2018 median household income was $52,292 above the state's average.[4]

History

The community was originally named Baron when first settled 1722 to 1739. It was the location of the St. Michael's Convent (Order of the Sacred Heart) from 1825 to 1932 and the location of Jefferson College, 1831 to 1931.[5]

St. Michael's Church Historic District and Jefferson College (now a Jesuit retreat center called Manresa House of Retreats), along with several historic homes in Convent, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The former Jefferson College operated in Convent. Among its alumni was Etienne J. Caire, who owned the E. J. Caire Store in Edgard and was the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1928 against Huey Long.[6] Caire founded the Manresa retreat center in 1922.[7]

The town sustained damage during Hurricane Katrina, disrupting parish government activities for several months.

On February 23, 2016, an extremely large wedge tornado hit the Sugar Hill RV park with two dead and several people injured.[8][9]

Industry

The town of Convent is home to a Royal Dutch Shell, Hydrogen cracking refinery that can produce 210k barrels of day of consumer petroleum products.[10][11] As of July 2020, Shell was considering selling the plant.[12][11] The plant produces 129,000 kg of annual air emissions that are high risk, including Cobalt and cobalt compounds.[4]

Geography

Located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, the town is only 16 feet (5 meters) above sea level. Convent has an area of 5.331 miles (8.579 km), of which 3.887 miles (6.256 km) is land and 1.444 miles (2.324 km) is water.[13]

Demographics

Notable person

• Jarvis Landry is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He also played college football at LSU.

References