Entry 1: History of Community (Origins, Population Changes, Major Events, Significant Locations)

Norco stands for "New Orleans Refining Company." There are now several refineries located there, most notably a major Shell petroleum refinery. It was originally founded as a large sugar cane plantation by European settlers, mainly French, in colonial times. However, the cultivation of sugar cane was impossible without labor force, that is why they imported African slaves. This city has been famous for its history of slavery revolutionary, especially in the early 19 century. One of the names in history of this town is Charles Deslondes, who was a first free person of color that led a rebellion with many of his refugee followers. Today this city has been famous for annual gatherings to commemorate the events to people of color that reached for freedom.

A Major Event that occured in Norco is that in May of 1988, lightning struck part of the refinfery and started a major fire. There was much damage to the refinery, but according to a local resident who we interviewed most of the damage was done to residential areas farther away from the refinery and the town of Norco ended up being okay.

The total area of Norco is 3.4 square miles( of which 12.83% is water territory). In terms of demographics Norco's population is 3579 as of census of 2000. Today the population is approximately 3559 people.

The racial make up in majority is White (78.6%),African Americans (19.2%)and the rest of percentage belongs to minorities of Native Americans,Asian, Hispanic and Latino.

The median age of Norco is 38.3, 64% op population belongs to a group to 44 years of age, what implies pretty young population. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males.

The percentage of highly educated people can be described as low, which is only 1.5% while high school grads is 79.1%. In the statistics of occupation it is noticeable that majority population of Norco works in Sales and Office sector as well as Production and Transportation.

Average annual income for a household is $37,270 and the median income for a family was $46,446. The unemployment rate is 4.7% and recent job growth is positive. When compared to the rest of US cost of living is 1.33% lower than the US average.

The Crime of Norco,La on scale from 1-10,is 6 while US average is 3.it is composed of murder and non negligent manslaughter,forcible rape,robbery,and aggravated assault.

Religion statistics shows that 62.5% of population is religious, meaning 44.7%are Catholic,17% Protestant and rest of it affiliates to other religions.