[2] St. James Parish is a part of the New Orleans–Metairie, Louisiana metropolitan statistical area, sitting between New Orleans and Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River.

[3] St. James is one of the state's nineteen original parishes, created by act of the territorial legislature, March 31, 1807.

The townsfolk tell the children that the purpose of this tradition is so Papa Noel can easily see his way down the Mississippi as he is delivering gifts.

[16] Roman Catholics numbered 19,342 while the National Baptist Convention of the United States of America had 2,180 members.

Approximately 85% of reported air pollution in the parish is produced by industries located in primarily Black census districts: Convent and Uncle Sam and the town of St James.

[17] These include the Shell Convent Refinery, an Occidental Chemical Factory, American Styrenics, and Mosaic Fertilizer.

[17] The project has become the focal point of an environmental justice protest because of the expectant rise in pollution and the disrespect of the historic nature of the land involved.

In 2016, his predecessor Timmy Roussel was indicted on corruption charges, when he was accused of having parish employees build a private natural gas line.

The last Republican to win a majority of the parish's vote until 2024 was Warren G. Harding in 1920, when Louisiana's Acadian population revolted against Woodrow Wilson because of his bitter disagreement with French President Georges Clemenceau.