PLAQUEMINES PARISH LOCATIONS Submitted by Gladys Stovall-Armstrong Typed by Darnell Marie Brunner Beck Published in "The Deep Delta Gen Society Quarterly" ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** A great deal of the information in this article was obtained from "Plaquemines - The Empire Parish" compiled by J.Ben Meyer. However, the locations of some of the settlements have been changed to correspond with Map No. 11364 (formerly C & GS 1271) which has been corrected to conform with instructions of the United States Coast Guard. Map printed by "Gulf South Map Company, 826 Gravier Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. EAST BANK CAERNARVON (once known as "Cainain"), was probably named after the Earl of Caernarvon by Thomas Morgan, who also owned "The Orange Grove" plantation. ENGLISH TURN, so named because Bienville persuaded the English to turn around at this point in the turn of the river by telling them a lie. The English asked him if that was the Mississippi River and he told them no, that it was further to the west and that France had strong forts further up river. If they had not believed him, the history of Louisiana could well have been changed and have been "British Louisiana" instead of French. The first post office was established at English Turn, 16 September 1852. It was abolished 30 August 1929. SHINGLE POINT, received its name because it was the place Bennard Meyer made cypress shingles. It is now a light station. ST. CLAIR, sight of Joseph GARR plantation. LINWOOD (LYNWOOD), sight of old REGGIO plantation and the sight of a duel fought between Judge LEONARD and a man called TOCA. Judge LEONARD was killed BERTRANVILLE, the village of Exile. Alfio LEBLANC's place was here. GREENWOOD, home of Madam VERBOIS. MONSECOEUR, belonged to LE SEPPES. FANNY & BELAIR, both belonged to the DYMOND-LALLY plantations. Belaire had a large sugar refinery. POVERTY POINT - was part of the STAR plantation owned by J. B. WILKINSON. ST. SOPHIE (now PHOENIX) - While Edward LIVINGSTON lived here, he was elected to the House of Representatives and was commissioned to write a criminal code for the State of Louisiana. Soon after, the plantation burned and when it was rebuilt, it was named Phoenix. (LIVINGSTON's descendant is now representative for this area.) FORT MISSISSIPPI (FORT__BOULAYE) - is directly behind Phoenix and was built in 1700. It was abandoned by 1715. HARLEM - Ed SMITH's plantation. BELLEVIEW - Bradish JOHNSON's plantation. UNION - John WILLIAMS property. POINTE-ALA-HATCHE - The present seat of government. Tradition says it was named because the point of the river resembled an ax. The first post office at Pointe-ala-Hatche was established 16 beptember 1852, ARMOND, postmaster. It was the largest settlement in the parish in 1890. Now only the courthouse, church, store, post office and a few houses are there. BOHEMIA - was owned by George RAPP, then George P. HAYNE, and later to P. COKER. GRAND PRAIRIE - mostly settlers from Ireland and non-Catholics. POINT PLEASENT - also settlers of the Irish and most non-Catholic. Among the early settlers of both Point Pleasent and Grand Prairie were the BOWERS and the JOHNSONS. They were growers of oranges. Land below Point Pleasent is accessible by boat only. OSTRICA (old QUARENTINE STATION) - mostly a settlement of fishermen. Once had a seafood canning plant. BOLIVAR POINT - almost totally a black settlement. FORT ST. PHILIP (FORT PLAQUEMINES)- named for PHILIP, Duke of Orleans. Built 1741. Most important of the forts built in Plaquemines Parish. We will have more on Fort St. Philip at a later date. BAYOU MARDI GRAS, this was the first place named on the Mississippi. OLGA (once called INDEPENDENTVILLE)- This sign was divided into lots and titles were given to 300 German and Irish river men to qualify them for the election. QUARENTINE STATION- During yellow fever outbreaks, this place was used to quarantine the sick from ships. PILOT TOWN- a settlement at the head of the passes for river pilots and their families (the modern Balize). BALIZE- one of the most famous places in Louisiana, although there are people living in Plaquemines Parish who have never heard of it. It was the capitol of Louisiana during the Spanish regime and it was here that the Spanish flag flew over Louisiana for the first time. It was once the sight of the United States custom house. It was once known as the WICKED CITY! It later became a more settled town after the men with wives moved in and once had a population of about 800. It had 3 stores, a church and a school. It slowly was devoured by the mighty Mississippi and was completely abandoned by 1870. The people mostly moved to Pilot Town which was connected with the river trade. Some of its inhabitants were on the census as living further up river by this time. WEST BANK BELLE CHASSE- was named for Colonel Joseph D. BELLECHASSE, a French word meaning "Good Hunting". This is the sight of the reknowned "BENJAMIN Plantation". The bell from this plantation was placed in front of the Plaquemines Parish Library in Belle Chasse by the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council. OAKVILLE- sight of the present day Cronite Chemical Company. JESUIT BEND- named for Jesuit Priests. Early settlers were BARRIOS, RIGAUD, ST. ANN, LE SFPPES, LAZARDI, AGAR, LAWRENCE and VILLERE. OLLIE- the birthplace of Judge Leander PEREZ in 1892. ALLIANCE- was one of WILKINSON'S plantations, later owned by Louis ROUSSELL, now owned by Gulf Oil Company. MYRTLE GROVE- J. B. WILKINSON'S plantation, had one of the last mills in the parish. DEER RANGE- owned by C. M. DAUGHTERY. JUNIOR- plantation of Maunsel WHITE, Jr. WOODLAWN- plantation owned by Bradish JOHNSON. This was the sight of the largest mill in the parish. POINTE CELESTE- owned by Bradish JOHNSON. MAGNOLIA- a very large plantation, first owned by EFFINCHAM, later owned by Governor WARMOUTH. DIAMOND & HAPPY JACK, some of the first settlers were here: A. TREADAWAY, V BARTHEMY, J. M. SYLVE, T. C. ANCART, J. N. TAGLIAFERRO, Riceland MILL, E. JOURDON, L. M. SOLIS, T. WILLIAMS, C. DENET, A. RIGAUD, C.WILLIAMS, J. SOLIS, T. HINGLE, VILLERE, A. DE LASSUS, V.DEMANDRE and N. A. DE LASSUS. PORT SULPHUR- founded in 1933. Home of Freeport Sulphur Company. HOME PLACE- once was called the RONQUILLO settlement. It was the largest settlement below Magnolia in late 1800's. DOLLUT (now EMPIRE), named for M. P. DOULLUT who developed Empire and Ostrica Locks on each side of the river. BURAS, named for the BURAT (BURAS) family. Most people who have ancestry who lived in plaquemines Parish very long before ca 1890 probably can find a BURAS in their genealogy. FORT JACKSON- well known 81 acre fort, first called Fort Bourbon. It was restored by the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council in 1962 and opened to the public. A 60 foot monument dedicated by the Commission Council on 9 April 1967 in honor of LASALLE stands here. VENICE- one of the most famous places in the parish. It was here Cavelier de LASALLE planted a cross in 1682 and proclaimed the whole Louisiana territory for King of France. The tricentennial celebration of this occasion was held the 18th of December, 1982, when the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana donated a French road marker in honor of the occasion. Land below Venice is accessible by boat only. PORT EADS- named for Captain EADS, whose jetties made South Pass the fourth Balize in 1876. BURRWOOD- once the home for 200 people and the home of the National Weather Station (which moved to Boothville later). There will be more on Burrwood in a later edition. HOLLYWOOD- across the bayou from Burrwood and once the home for about 100 people, mostly fishermen. Plaquemines Parish was warned a few years ago that unless swift action was taken, in forty years there would be no land left in the parish. Work has begun to better our levee systems, but is this enough and is this work being done fast enough? Every few months, I can tell where my own property is sinking. My driveway which was level with the land a couple of years ago, now has large sections of the pavement protruding several inches above the land. I hear this type of complaint from many living in the lower end of the parish. One wonders if the parish with the most exciting history in the state and one with the most resources will one day just exist in the history books. See Map Locations