East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
East Feliciana Parish Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Founded	1824
Named for	Marie Felice de Gálvez
Seat	Clinton
Largest town	Jackson
Area
• Total	456 sq mi (1,181 km2)
• Land	453 sq mi (1,173 km2)
• Water	2.4 sq mi (6 km2), 0.5%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	19,696
• Density	45/sq mi (17/km²)
Congressional districts	5th, 6th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.eastfelicianaparish.org/home.html

East Feliciana Parish (French: Paroisse de Feliciana Est) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,267. The parish seat is Clinton.

East Feliciana Parish is part of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The parish was part of Feliciana Parish, which was founded in 1810 and then divided, in 1824, into East Feliciana Parish and West Feliciana Parish. Feliciana is derived from a Spanish rendering of the French word "Felicité" which means happiness. The Louisiana State Insane Asylum was established near Jackson, Louisiana, in 1847. It was greatly enlarged and improved under the administration of Dr. John Welch Jones, who was appointed as superintendent in 1874. The institution was later called East Louisiana State Hospital.

The Margaret Dixon Correctional Institute is located in Jackson, as well. It opened in 1976 and is named for the crusading managing editor of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, who argued for the decentralization of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, in neighboring West Feliciana Parish.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 456 square miles (1,180 km²), of which 453 square miles (1,170 km²) is land and 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²) (0.5%) is water.