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2 Geography 3 Demographics |
History
The first settler of Lafe was Mr. Herman Toelken, a German immigrant who had been living in New Haven, Missouri and was seeking new opportunities in an unsettled area. Toelken began cutting railroad ties for the railroad in order to save enough money to purchase land and send for his family
When Mr. Toelken was settled he began advertising in a Minneapolis, Minnesota German newspaper seeking other German Lutherans to come to the area. Several families responded to this advertisement and an assortment of German immigrant families followed him from Franklin County, Missouri.
On 9 December 1889 an application was made to the US Postal Service for the establishment of a post office for "Newberry, Arkansas", so named due to a sawmill operator of the same name who had set up in the area. The name "Newberry" was denied by the Postal Service so the postmaster combined the names of his daughters and reapplied with the name "Loulyma" which was accepted. Mail arrived addressed to "Loulyma" and freight arrived addressed to "Newberry". In 1901 a new postmaster named Lafayette Mueller took over and sought to settle the name permanently by resubmitting a new name. Townspeople elected to name the town "Lafe" in honor of the new postmaster and the name was officially changed on 21 May 1902.
Geography
Lafe is located at 36°12'18" North, 90°30'25" West (36.204987, -90.507041)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²). 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 385 people, 137 households, and 110 families residing in the town. The population density is 71.1/km² (184.1/mi²). There are 153 housing units at an average density of 28.3/km² (73.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 89.09% White, 0.00% Black or African American, 2.34% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.00% from other races, and 8.57% from two or more races. 0.78% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 137 households out of which 36.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.0% are married couples living together, 10.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 19.0% are non-families. 16.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.81 and the average family size is 3.14.
In the town the population is spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 87.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $30,938, and the median income for a family is $32,125. Males have a median income of $25,313 versus $16,667 for females. The per capita income for the town is $12,234. 17.7% of the population and 15.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 22.7% are under the age of 18 and 8.6% are 65 or older.