The city of Covington is the parish seat of St. Tammany Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. It is located at a fork of the Bogue Falaya and the Tchefuncte River. The population was 8,483 at the 2000 census, and was estimated to be 9,347 in July 2005.
History
Earliest known settlement by Europeans was in 1800 by Jacques Dreux. In 1813 John Wharton Collins established a town here with the name of Wharton.
The city was renamed after General Leonard Covington, a hero of the War of 1812.
Commerce was brought here by boat up the Bogue Falaya, which connects to Lake Pontchartrain.
In 1888 the railroad came to town.
In the late 20th century many people who worked in New Orleans started living in Covington, commuting across Lake Pontchartrain on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Population continues to grow, bringing Covington ever more into the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area. In 2003, Covington elected its first female and first Republican, Candace Watkins, as Mayor.
Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, Covington along with the rest of the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain experienced a massive population boom as a result of many former inhabitants of the New Orleans area being forced to move out of their storm ravaged homes. A large amount of the people moving to Covington were from St. Bernard Parish, in particular those from Chalmette (nicknamed "Chalmations"). As of the end of 2005 it remains to be seen how many of these new residents will choose to stay in Covington, although many are beginning to refer to the area as St. Tammanard Parish.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.9 km (6.9 mi). 17.6 km˛ (6.8 mi) of it is land and 0.3 km (0.1 mi) of it (1.45%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,483 people, 3,258 households, and 2,212 families residing in the city. The population density was 481.7/km (1,248.0/mi). There were 3,565 housing units at an average density of 202.4/km (524.5/mi). The racial makeup of the city was 77.45% White, 20.17% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.56% of the population.
There were 3,258 households out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,949, and the median income for a family was $50,332. Males had a median income of $36,434 versus $23,859 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,438. About 11.8% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.5% of those under age 18 and 17.2% of those age 65 or over.
