Lafourche Parish (French for "the fork") was named after Bayou Lafourche, which forms a fork where it flows
out of the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish and runs the length of the Parish into the Gulf of Mexico.
Bayou Lafourche is known as the "Longest Street in the World" because of its 77
continuous miles of homes spaced so closely together along the bayou.
The original inhabitants of what is now Lafourche Parish were native American tribes, namely the Washa, the Chitimacha,
and the Chawasha. In the mid-1700's, Spanish and French colonists began to settle along the upper banks of Bayou Lafourche.
And later during the Great Expulsion of 1755, when the British governor of Nova Scotia ordered the deportation of over
4000 Acadians, many of the refugees settled in lower Lafourche and parts of the Atchafalaya Basin.
Lafourche Parish celebrated its 200th birthday on March 31, 2007. Lafourche was one of 19 parishes
carved from the Louisiana Purchase on this date in 1807.
Lafourche Parish is located in southeast Louisiana and covers approximately 1,469 square miles. It is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to its south, Terrebonne Parish to its west, Assumption Parish to its northwest, St. John Parish and St. James Parish to its north, and St. Charles Parish and Jefferson Parish to its east. Lafourche is a parish of marshes, sandy ridges, bodies of water, and natural levees.
Click here to download full-sized color/B&W maps of Lafourche!
Click here to download the current Council District Map 1.64 MB (PDF format)
Click here for Lafourche Parish 2000 Census information!
Lafourche Parish Today:
Lafourche, known as the "Sportsman's Paradise," boasts a natural habitat for a wide range of wildlife such as deer, nutria, alligators, fish, shellfish, etc. Major industries in Lafourche include oil & gas production, sugar refinery, shipbuilding, and commercial fishing.
There are three incorporated municipalities in Lafourche Parish: Thibodaux (parish seat), Lockport, and Golden Meadow.
Lafourche Parish is governed under a Home Rule Charter form of government, which is made up of the Administrative branch (President) and the Legislative Branch (Council). There are nine members of the Council, each representing one of nine Councilmatic districts. Both the President and the Council serve four-year terms.
The population of Lafourche Parish is approximately 90,255.
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Lafourche Parish is located in southeast Louisiana and covers approximately 1,469 square miles. It is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to its south, Terrebonne Parish to its west, Assumption Parish to its northwest, St. John Parish and St. James Parish to its north, and St. Charles Parish and Jefferson Parish to its east. Lafourche is a parish of marshes, sandy ridges, bodies of water, and natural levees.