Central

History

Long an unincorporated suburb of Baton Rouge, the citizens of Central voted to incorporate as a city on April 23, 2005, despite opposition from the parish. Businessman Russell Starns headed the incorporation movement, saying it was based on residents' desire to establish a school system separate from that of East Baton Rouge Parish. The Louisiana State Legislature allowed Central to operate a separate school system only after the city incorporated. It had about 25,000 residents when it incorporated. On January 9, 2007, Governor Kathleen Blanco appointed the interim members of the new Central Community School Board. The board appointed Mike Faulk as the first superintendent. The new school system began operation on July 1, 2007. Television station WAFB reported "Central was one of the areas of East Baton Rouge Parish that sustained significant flooding" in the 2016 Louisiana floods. Mayor Jr. Shelton stated that the number of people living in Central who were affected by the flooding was 25,000.

Geography

The city of Central is located in the east-central part of East Baton Rouge Parish. It is situated between two rivers with the Comite River on its west border and the Amite River, which forms the border with Livingston Parish. These two rivers converge at the southern borders of the city. Louisiana Highway 408 passes through the center of Central, leading west to Interstate 110 in the northern part of Baton Rouge. Downtown Baton Rouge is southwest of Central. Louisiana Highway 37 passes through the eastern part of Central, leading northeast to Greensburg, southwest to Monticello, and southwest to Baton Rouge. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the total area of Central is , of which is land and , or 0.44%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,895
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,538
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,603
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  8,931
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  8,311
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,049
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,904
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,753

Most recent

• M 3 — 2010-08-02
  16 km ESE of Clinton, Louisiana
• M 3 — 2005-12-20
  9 km ESE of French Settlement, Louisiana