Lutcher is a town in St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the East Bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 3,559 at the 2010 census. The city was damaged on August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,735 people, 1,252 households, and 986 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,107.3 people per square mile. There were 1,368 housing units at an average density of 405.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 49.91% White, 49.77% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.03% Asian, 0.05% from other races, and 0.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.35% of the population. There were 1,252 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couplesliving together, 19.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.33. In the town, the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $34,167, and the median income for a family was $42,317. Males had a median income of $40,769 versus $22,257 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,129. About 21.1% of families and 23.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.2% of those under age 18 and 18.9% of those age 65 or over.
History
Lutcher was established as a sawmill town, named after Henry J. Lutcher who was a sawmill operator and businessman. Lutcher is also where James Mather and his family established a sugar plantation, and where Mather died in 1821. The Bank of Lutcher was organized by George H. Jones, M. D., son of Dr. John Welch Jones. It is the birthplace of early jazz clarinetist Leon Roppolo.
