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Louisiana

Louisiana Parishes

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Louisiana Parishes

Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes in the same way that 48 of the other states of the United States are divided into counties (Alaska is divided into boroughs and census areas).
On March 31, 1807, the territorial legislature divided the state into 19 parishes, without getting rid of the old counties (which continued to exist until 1845).In 1811, a constitutional convention organized the state into seven judicial districts, each consisting of groups of parishes. In 1816, the first official map of the state used the term, as did the 1845 constitution. Since then, the official term has been parishes.

Ascension Parish, Louisiana

Ascension Parish History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Donaldsonville
Year Organized: 1807
Square Miles: 292

Court House:

P.O. Box 2392
Parish Government
Gonzales, LA 70707-0000

Etymology - Origin of Parish Name

the parish was named in honor of the Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Ascension Parish was created on 1807, from Acadia Parish and the parish was named in honor of the Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. The Parish seat is Donaldsonville.

The first Europeans to set foot in Ascension Parish in the area now known as Donaldsonville was led by DeSoto in 1543. The French explorer, LaSalle, named this place Lafourche des Chetimaches, "the fork in the river of the Chitimachas Indians". Bayou Lafourche was called the "river of the Chitimachas" by the early French explorers, and referred to as the "fork of the Chitimachas" where it branched off the Mississippi River - or, in French, La Fourche (the fork).

Ascension Parish became a Spanish Territory in 1763, and Louis Judice was named the first Spanish Commandant for Ascension. In 1766 the Spanish Government issued land grants to Acadians from Nova Scotia and Canary Islanders. It was their hope to reach the numerous French settlement areas along the lower Mississippi. This part of Ascension and St. James Parishes is what came to be known as the Acadian Coast.

On August 15, 1772, on order of Charles III, King of Spain, the Ascension Catholic Church was established to serve its parishioners.

Ascension Parish became the property of France in April, 1682, when LaSalle arrived and explored the Mississippi River. The parish seat for Ascension is Donaldsonville, named after its founder, William Donaldson. Donaldson was formally dedicated on April 17, 1806. The land was originally a Spanish grant, owned by a Mrs. Margaret Allain (Elaine), widow of T. L. Landry, an Acadian exile.

Neighboring Parishes:

Northeast: Livingston Parish
East: St. John the Baptist Parish
Southeast: St. James Parish
Southwest: Assumption Parish
West: Iberville Parish
Northwest: East Baton Rouge Parish

Cities and Towns:

- Donaldsonville (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Gonzales	city	Incorporated Area
- Sorrento	town	Incorporated Area

Parish Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."