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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.

Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

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

County Seat: Harrisonburg
Year Organized: 1808
Square Miles: 704

Court House:

P.O. Box 258
Parish Courthouse
Harrisonburg, LA 71340-0258

Etymology - Origin of Parish Name

he parish was named after the Catahoula Lake, formerly within the parish's boundaries (now within LaSalle Parish) and named from a Tensas word meaning big, clear lake.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Catahoula Parish was created on March 23, 1808, as an Original Parish and the parish was named after the Catahoula Lake, formerly within the parish's boundaries (now within LaSalle Parish) and named from a Tensas word meaning big, clear lake. The Parish seat is Harrisonburg. There was a total records destruction in the early 1900's due to unkown causes.

Neighboring Parishes:

Northeast: Franklin Parish; Tensas Parish
Southeast: Concordia Parish
South: Avoyelles Parish
West: La Salle Parish
Northwest: Caldwell Parish

Cities and Towns:

- Harrisonburg (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Jonesville	town	Incorporated Area
- Sicily Island	village	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."