Parrish

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Town of Parrish
Parrish seal.jpg
Incorporated 1921
Population 965
Mayor La'Tisha Oliver
School district Walker County Schools
Government

Parrish Town Council
Parrish Fire Department
Parrish Police Department

Web site townofparrish.org
Parrish locator map.png
Locate with Google Maps

Parrish is a town of 965 occupying 2.1 square miles in the center of Walker County. The Town of Parrish was incorporated in 1921 and is the sixth-largest town the county.

History

The community, originally called Hewitt, was granted a post office in 1878. It took its current name from the telegraph station established about 1890 by the Sheffield, Birmingham, and Tennessee Railroad, whose operator was a man named Parrish. The post office was moved to the railroad crossing in 1891.

The Alabama Power Company built a coal-fire electrical generation plant, later renamed Plant Gorgas near Parrish in 1917. The Southern Railroad opened a Railroad Fuel Company coal mine in the vicinity of Parrish in 1918 and hundreds of miners settled in the vicinity with their families. The town was incorporated on January 1, 1921 and opened a Parrish High School in 1925. The mine closed in 1951.

An EF-3 tornado struck Parrish during the April 2011 tornado outbreak.

Mayors

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,268 people, 506 households, and 358 families residing in the town. The population density was 605.2 people per square mile. There were 587 housing units at an average density of 280.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of Parrish is 72.6% White and 25.3% African American.

There were 506 households out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $21,711, and the median income for a family was $26,193. Males had a median income of $25,341 versus $16,900 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,270. About 21.3% of families and 24.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.0% of those under age 18 and 26.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

  • Baker, Ruth Teaford (n.d.) "Parrish, Alabama in Walker Co. - History." on Rootsweb.com - accessed November 22, 2013
Walker County seal.png Walker County
Topics

Communities | County Commission | Schools | Sheriff

Cities

Carbon Hill | Cordova | Curry | Dora | Eldridge | Jasper (seat) | Kansas | Nauvoo | Oakman | Parrish | Sipsey | Sumiton