Parish Histories

In “St. Tammany Parish Postcards: A Glimpse Back in Time”, Louisiana native Ashleigh Austin presents more than one hundred vintage postcards from her extensive personal collection. These images, originally published from the 1900s to the 1960s, capture many familiar sights and landmarks from this historic region north of New Orleans. From the several bridges spanning Lake Pontchartrain to gone-but-not-forgotten eateries such as the White Kitchen in Slidell to lost hotels such as the Mugnier Hotel in Mandeville, the memories evoked by this collection are a priceless part of Louisiana's past.

Way down yonder, at the mouth of the Mississippi River sits a land like no other on this continent. A land occupied by man but belonging to a force greater than he. A force who fights daily to prove that no man's barriers or diversions will stop it from plowing its own path. Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish (County) is the Mississippi River. It was the great 'father of waters' who built it and it is the 'Ominous Lady' who over the years has fought to reclaim the lands she deposited. So begins Janice P. Buras' history of the land known as Plaquemines. Land, of course, is not a highly appropriate term. Marsh, or swamp, or even water, could be used to more accurately describe much of Plaquemines. Yet this isolated and humid area has also been home to people of many different cultures throughout the history of Louisiana. It is also some of the most fertile land in the world. The varieties of plant life found in Plaquemines are almost as numerous as the many stories that have arisen on the Mississippi banks of this area. Janice P. Buras, in her crusade to spread the word about her beloved Plaquemines Parish, has published a monthly magazine highlighting the people and events of the area. Feeling that the history of this area has been neglected or forgotten for far too long, she was compelled to write this book.

This comprehensive volume traces the history of Lafayette Parish, from its earliest beginnings and the struggle between the Attakapas Indians and the first white settlers, French Canadians, English traders, and French trappers to the conditions in 1959, when this historical work was first published. Over the course of this history, Griffin analyses everything from the territorial and political evolution of the parish to the development of transportation and travel, and from the founding of the schools to the early financial and industrial conditions. Griffin also provides accounts of the flood of 1927, the greatest challenge Lafayette Parish had to overcome in its early history and a sign of the persevering spirit that would help the parish to overcome such destructive forces.

Originally published in 1943, this comprehensive volume chronicles the history of Avoyelles Parish, from the first Indian settlers to the time of the book's publication. Saucier provides in-depth information about the organization of the parish as it grew out of the Avoyelles Post during the French regime. Throughout the book, Saucier explores the many hardships endured by the first settlers, such as the health and sanitation, relief and welfare organizations, and numerous disasters-most notably the Red River flood of 1927. Saucier also provides the history of institutions, such as churches, education, banking, and journalism, that would serve as a foundation for its future population.

Louisiana has sixty-four parishes, and many of them are as individual and different as the state itself is different from others in the Union. St. James Parish, a small parish of 249 square miles, is not only one of the oldest settlements in the state, but it is different in its population make-up and is important historically. Cabanocey . . . is a splendid history of the Parish of St. James. . . . Lillian C. Bourgeois captured the spirit that animates the population, which is descended from French, Spanish, Acadian, German, and Creole peoples. Bourgeois writes of the population's customs, beliefs, language differences, and folklore. Cabanocey is not a collection of dry facts and dates; rather, it vividly describes how, more than one hundred years ago, the people of St. James Parish lived, who they were, and what they contributed to their parish and their state. Before the Civil War, St. James Parish was the educational center of Louisiana, and Jefferson College was the first important college in the state. Founded in 1830, it had fine buildings, a well-equipped laboratory, and an impressive library. The Convent of the Sacred Heart (1835) for girls was well-known by prominent families in Louisiana, Mexico, and Central America, who sent their daughters there. Cabanocey contains St. James genealogies and thousands of names of early settlers, including the soldiers, taxpayers, officials, prominent families, and the first settlers and their children. From the early censuses and church and court records, descent is traced for many names. The censuses of 1766, 1769, and 1777 are complete and were obtained from the archives in Seville, Spain.

A good local history is an excellent and agreeable thing. It pleases on two counts. It satisfies the curiosity of the inhabitants of a region, whether newcomers or old settlers, especially if no adequate history had existed before. It dispels myths, corrects old wives' tales. And, if the history is first-rate, it goes beyond a factual account of persons and places, the particularities of a region, and shows the significance of these human happenings in a larger scheme of things, in this case the emergence of a new nation. Ellis's history succeeds on both counts. It is a delightful and authoritative account of lore which not even St. Tammanyites may have heard of. Did you know, for example, that there was once a flourishing wine industry in St. Tammany Parish? That local vineyards produced excellent red and white wines, the red from Concord grapes, the white from Herbemont? Did you know that in 1891 a rice crop of 50,000 barrels was harvested, half the entire output of South Carolina?... Ellis has rendered this pleasant and authoritative history in a graceful and lively style and with a genuine affection for the people he writes about. Walker Percy From the Foreword