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Lafourche Parish, Louisiana facts for kids

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Lafourche Parish
Parish
Lafourche Parish Courthouse
Lafourche Parish Courthouse
Map of Louisiana highlighting Lafourche Parish
Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
Map of the United States highlighting Louisiana
Louisiana's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Louisiana
Founded 1807
Named for la fourche, French for the fork
Seat Thibodaux
Largest city Thibodaux
Area
 • Total 1,474 sq mi (3,820 km2)
 • Land 1,068 sq mi (2,770 km2)
 • Water 406 sq mi (1,050 km2)  28%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 97,557
 • Density 91.35/sq mi (35.27/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts 1st, 6th

Lafourche Parish (French: Paroisse de la Fourche) is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Thibodaux. The parish was formed in 1807. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, which consisted of the present parishes of Lafourche and Terrebonne. Lafourche Parish was named after the Bayou Lafourche. City buildings have been featured in television and movies, such as in Fletch Lives, due to its architecture and rich history. At the 2020 census, its population was 97,557.

Long a center of sugar cane plantations and sugar production, in November 1887 the parish was the site of the Thibodaux Massacre. After state militia were used to suppress a massive Knights of Labor strike involving 10,000 workers in four parishes, many African Americans retreated to Thibodaux. Local paramilitary forces attacked the men and their families, killing an estimated 50 persons. Hundreds more were missing, wounded, and presumed dead in one of the deadliest incidents of labor suppression and racial terrorism.

Lafourche Parish is part of the Houma-Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area. People of the state-recognized Native American Houma Tribe live in both Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.

History

South Louisiana became known as “Sugarland”, and Lafourche one of the sugar parishes, where sugar cane plantations were established before and after the Civil War. They required the labor of large numbers of enslaved African Americans. In the postbellum era, they constituted from 50 to 80 percent of the population in most of the sugar parishes.

Particularly after Reconstruction, whites in the parish used violence and intimidation against the large population of freedmen to suppress Republican voting and re-establish white supremacy, but were less successful than in North Louisiana until after disenfranchisement of blacks at the turn of the century. From 1877 through the early 20th century, there were 52 lynchings of African Americans in Lafourche Parish. Most of the deaths were due to white suppression of labor unrest in 1887; blacks were skilled sugar workers and had begun to organize for better wages and conditions. Some 10,000 workers had struck in Lafourche and three other parishes during the critical harvest period. At the request of the planters, the state sent in militia against the workers to break the strike.

In what was called the Thibodaux Massacre of November 22, 1887, local whites organized by leaders of the town killed up to 50 blacks who had taken refuge in the African-American quarters after a major Knights of Labor strike was called on sugar plantations. Hundreds more were wounded or missing, and presumed dead.

The total deaths in this parish due to this racial terrorism were the highest of any parish in the state and nearly twice as high as some others among the six parishes with the highest totals. In general, most of the lynching and racial terrorism took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Port Fourchon at 16:55 UTC as a category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. Additional reports surveyed by ships in Port Fourchon reported wind gusts up to 194 knots. In Golden Meadow, LA, the National Weather Service recorded storm surge measurements of 10.1 ft. It was the strongest storm on record to make landfall in Lafourche Parish and at the time the 5th costliest hurricane in United States history.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 1,474 square miles (3,820 km2), of which 1,068 square miles (2,770 km2) is land and 406 square miles (1,050 km2) (28%) is water. To the south of the parish is the Gulf of Mexico.

Lafourche, like most of the Gulf Coast, is experiencing land loss due to man-made changes to the path of the Mississippi River and development in the swamplands. The southern part of the parish was inundated during Hurricane Juan in 1985. After that, the South Lafourche levee district converted its disconnected patchwork of low hurricane levees into a continuous wall that is 48 miles (77 km) long. The levee, largely funded by a local tax and occasional money from the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, was built higher but narrower than recommended by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which decertified them. The additional height proved its value when Hurricane Ida struck the area in 2021, and the floodwaters rose four feet (1.2 m) higher than the recommended height – but one foot (30 cm) lower than the levee was built. In the northern part of the parish, the shorter, federally approved levees were overtopped and the communities were flooded.

Major highways

  • I-49 (Future).svg Interstate 49 (future)
  • US 90.svg U.S. Highway 90
  • Louisiana 1 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 1
  • Louisiana 20 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 20
  • Louisiana 24 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 24
  • Louisiana 182 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 182
  • Louisiana 304 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 304
  • Louisiana 308 (2008).svg Louisiana Highway 308

Adjacent parishes

National protected area

Communities

Map of Lafourche Parish Louisiana With Municipal Labels
Map of Lafourche Parish with municipal labels

City

Towns

Census-designated places

Other areas

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1810 1,995 —
1820 3,755 88.2%
1830 5,503 46.6%
1840 7,303 32.7%
1850 9,532 30.5%
1860 14,044 47.3%
1870 14,719 4.8%
1880 19,113 29.9%
1890 22,095 15.6%
1900 28,882 30.7%
1910 33,111 14.6%
1920 30,344 −8.4%
1930 32,419 6.8%
1940 38,615 19.1%
1950 42,209 9.3%
1960 55,381 31.2%
1970 68,941 24.5%
1980 82,483 19.6%
1990 85,860 4.1%
2000 89,974 4.8%
2010 96,318 7.1%
2020 97,557 1.3%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010-2013
Lafourche Parish racial composition as of 2020
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 70,722 72.49%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 14,532 14.9%
Native American 2,427 2.49%
Asian 759 0.78%
Pacific Islander 31 0.03%
Other/Mixed 3,414 3.5%
Hispanic or Latino 5,672 5.81%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 97,557 people, 36,759 households, and 25,224 families residing in the parish. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.04.

In 2000, there were 89,794 people living in the parish. The racial makeup of Lafourche was 82.85% White, 12.61% Black or African American, 2.30% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.67% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.58% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races; 1.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino American of any race. Among the population, 19.12% reported speaking French or Cajun French at home, while 1.51% spoke Spanish.

Up from $34,910 in 2000, the median income of a household in the parish was $51,339 according to the 2019 American Community Survey. In 2000, males had a median income of $34,600 versus $19,484 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $15,809. About 13.20% of families and 16.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.90% of those under age 18 and 18.30% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The parish is zoned to Lafourche Parish Public Schools.

Residents of select portions of Lafourche Parish (particularly in parts of Grand Bois and Bourg) may attend schools in the Terrebonne Parish School District.

High schools

  • Central Lafourche in Mathews
  • South Lafourche in Galliano
  • Thibodaux High in Thibodaux
  • Edward Douglas White Catholic High School in Thibodaux

Colleges and universities

The parish is in the service area of Fletcher Technical Community College. Additionally, a Delgado Community College document stated that Lafourche Parish was in the college's service area.

National Guard

D Company 2-156 Infantry Battalion of the 256TH Infantry Brigade Combat Team resides in Thibodaux, Louisiana

Notable people

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