In mid-1997, Wendy Williams was a mail carrier in Bogalusa City, Louisiana. The town of 13,000 people was plagued by environmental issues, urban blight, and economic decline. She and her coworkers were among the many local residents who became activists in the 1960s and '70s. The community has since been revitalized, but its problems are far from over.
The United States Census Bureau reported that the population of Bogalusa City, Louisiana, fell from around 21,000 in 2010 to 11,852 in 2019. The city's poverty rate is slightly higher than the Louisiana average at 36.3%. Despite these problems, the city's residents are proud of their local heritage and are eager to show the world that they are proud to be from Bogalusa.
The city's history is replete with historical references to its lumbering past. Goodyears of Buffalo established the Great Southern Lumber Company in 1902, which boasted the largest sawmill in the world for many years. A paper mill was added to the process in 1918. The Goodyear family's sawmill cleared all the virgin longleaf yellow pine within several hundred miles of Bogalusa. Eventually, the sawmill closed, and the Goodyears turned to other endeavors. The Great Southern Lumber Company passed the mill to the Gaylord Container Corporation, which later sold the plant to Crown Zellerbach.
The median household income of residents in Bogalusa, LA is $31,976. The highest-earning area is Census Tract 9506 (the city's largest). Despite the city's high income, the median household income is only 1.53 times higher than the national average. Despite its relatively low income, however, it is still well below the national average, with only 66.7% of households having active broadband internet connections.