Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Genealogical Records Information

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Plaquemines Parish History and Information

Plaquemines Parish Facts

Plaquemines Parish was created on March 31, 1807. It is one of the 19 parishes, which were created by dividing the Territory of New Orleans. The parish name is a word meaning persimmons created from the Louisiana Creole French and the Mobile Native American language . The Parish seat is Pointe a la Hache .

Plaquemines Parish Courthouse - 1915
Gone but not forgotten...the Plaquemines Courthouse, built mostly from materials salvaged from its predecessor was completed in 1915, and was sadly destroyed by a fire in 2001. Located in the town of Pointe-a-la-Hache, west to east access to the courthouse was gained by crossing the Mississippi River on a ferry.

It is borderd by Orleans Parish (north), St. Bernard Parish (northeast), Jefferson Parish (west) . Cites, Towns and Communities include Belle Chasse, Bohemia, Boothville-Venice, Buras-Triumph, Davant, Empire, Homeplace, Jesuit Bend, Pilottown, Pointe a la Hache, Port Eads, Port Sulphur, Venice . Unincorporated areas of interest in the parish include Alliance, Belair, Belle Chasse, Belvue, Benjamin Switch, Bertrandville, Bohemia, Boothville, Braithwaite, Buras, Burbridge, Burrwood, Carlisle, Cedar Grove, Dalcour, Davantto, Deer Range, Duvic, Empire, English Turn, Gloria, Greenwood, Happy Jack, Harlem,Ironton, Jesuit Bend, Junior, Linwood, Live Oak, Myrtle Grove, Naomi, Nero, Oak Point, Oakville, Ollie, Phoenix, Port Eads, Port Nickel, Port Sulphur, Promised Land, Reussite, Scarsdale, Scocola, St. Rosalie, Star, Stella, St. Leon, Sunrise, Tidewater, Triumph, Tropical Bend, Venice, Victory Switch, West Pointe a-la-Hache, Wills Point and Woodland.
The Official County Website is located at http://www.plaqueminesparish.com/ . See Extended History for More information.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana History Books at Amazon.com
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There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Plaquemines Parish Court Records

See Also Louisiana Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. Courthouse destroyed by a fire in 2001.

Plaquemines Parish Clerk of Court has Court Records from 1807 and Land Records from 1807 and Probate Records from 1807 has Marriage Records from 1807 and is located at Post Office Box 40, Belle Chasse, LA 70037, 8346 Highway 23, Region 1 Building, 2nd Floor, Belle Chasse, LA 70037, (504) 297-5180, (504) 297-5195 fax .
The Clerk of Court for each parish in Louisiana performs the functions of more than one office. As the Recorder, the office of the Clerk of Court receives, files, records and indexes all mortgages, conveyances and all other instruments recorded in the Public Records for the Parish. The Clerk’s Office receives and files all pleadings, such as petitions, answers, motions and other filings in Civil and Probate matters, as well as indictments, bills of information and other filings in Criminal matters. The Clerk’s Office also handles special Juvenile matters and Criminal Neglect cases. Another function of the Clerk’s Office is the issuance of Marriage Licenses and recording their returns after the marriages are performed.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include:Louisiana Marriages, 1718-1925, Louisiana Marriages to 1850, Louisiana Marriage Records, 1851-1900, New Orleans, Louisiana Marriage Records Index, 1831-1925, Louisiana Land Records. You may also search the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which does cover Louisiana and does cover surrounding states. Many pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals.

Click Here to Search Louisiana Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Plaquemines Parish Court Records. Email us with websites containing Plaquemines Parish Court Records by clicking the link below:

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Court Books at Amazon.com

Plaquemines Parish Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Tax records are a valuable but little-used source. Almost everything was taxed: household and personal goods, livestock, slaves, and property. Tax lists can be used as a substitute census, to create complete neighborhoods for a neighborhood study, establish relationships, locate land, and so on. Unfortunately, most of these lists no longer exist in Louisiana, but those that are extant are usually found in the tax assessor's office in the Plaquemines Parish courthouse.

Below is a list of online resources for Plaquemines Parish Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Plaquemines Parish Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Tax Books at Amazon.com

Plaquemines Parish Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Louisiana Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Plaquemines Parish Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Plaquemines Parish Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

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Local Louisiana Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
Louisiana State Archives , 3851 Essen Lane, PO Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125; (225) 922-2012
Louisiana Historical Society, 5801 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115; 504/866-3049, [EMAIL]
Louisiana Genealogical & Historical Society, P.O. Box 82060, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70884-2060-60
National Archives and Records Admin, 501 W Felix Str, Building 1, P.O. 6216, Fort Worth, Texas 76115-3405; archives@ftworth.nara.gov, Fax: 817-334-5511
Louisiana Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
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Plaquemines Parish Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Louisiana Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Plaquemines Parish. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Plaquemines Parish Tombstone Transcription Project.

Most Catholic church registers are still in the local parish church. Many of them have been translated and published.

The recording of cemetery inscriptions in Louisiana has long been a project of the DAR and numerous genealogical societies. Genealogical publications continually print these inscriptions in their issues.

Below is a list of online resources for Plaquemines Parish Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Plaquemines Parish Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Louisiana Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Plaquemines Parish Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Plaquemines Parish Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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County History

1507: Almost 500 years ago, in 1507, a cartographer on one of Christopher ColumbusË expeditions to the Gulf of Mexico drew a map showing a huge river flowing from the heart of North America. It was the Mississippi, and in charting its mouth the cartographer became the first man to locate the area of Plaquemines Parish on a map. From that moment the Mississippi River has played a significant part in the history of America, and Plaquemines Parish has shared in this prominence. The mighty Father of Waters became a gateway to the New WorldËs fabulous wealth and paved the way to the development of a great civilization.

The name, Plaquemines, comes from an Indian word, piakimin, meaning persimmon. It was first used by Iberville and Bienville to name an old military post on the banks of the Mississippi which was surrounded by large number of persimmon trees. Eventually the name was applied to the entire parish.

Many expeditions were sent to find the river and explore the country it drained. But for more than a hundred years, the river was to remain little more than a crooked line on the inaccurate maps of the times. Finally, in 1682, Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition to the mouth of the river. On April 9, he planted a cross on the west bank somewhere between Venice and Head of Passes, proclaiming for France all of the Mississippi Valley and the area drained by tributaries of the river. He named it Louisiana in honor of FranceËs King Louis XIV.

1699: This claim to the interior of the continent was strongly contested by Spain and England., but a chance meeting at one of the bends in the river upstream from Pointe-a-la-Hache solidified FranceËs claim to the country. The area is called English Turn, because it was there, in 1699 that a British man-of-war, headed inland, reversed its course and returned to the Gulf, leaving Louisiana to the French. It seems the captain met the Frenchman, Bienville, coming downstream in a small boat. Bienville told the captain that France had built a strong fort just up the river. Of course this was a lie, but it was more than a century later before the British tried to claim it again.

1700: The next year Bienville and Iberville established the first fortification near Phoenix and called it Fort Mississippi. Later, two military installations were built just below the present site of Triumph. Fort Jackson on the west bank, and Fort St. Philip, right across the river, saw heavy action in the War of 1812 and during the Civil War.

1709: Plaquemines Parish was first settled at English Turn in 1709 by the French brothers Carriere. These hardy folk and other early settlers planted indigo, rice and sugar cane, grew oranges (introduced in 1750), fished the Gulf for shrimp and oysters, and lived a secluded but most pleasant life along the riverËs banks. Upriver, near New Orleans, the parish broadens and fertile land extends quite a distance from the river. Even before the Louisiana Purchase, large and beautiful plantations were built and the planters of area contributed very prominently in the development of Louisiana. The parish was created in 1807 from the County of Orleans, and Pointe a la Hache, one of the largest settlements between English Turn and the Gulf, was selected as the parish seat in 1846.

1805: When the Territory of Orleans is divided into counties the present-day Plaquemines Parish is part of Orleans County

1808: Fort St. Leon in Bellechasse on the West Bank of Plaquemines Parish is rebuilt by Latour and garrisoned to defend New Orleans. The fort is destroyed by Adm. Farragut during the Civil War in the Union’s advance up the river.

1822: Fort Jackson built around 1822-32 near Venice to protect the lower river. Named for Andrew Jackson. 1862 - Fort withstood 10 day siege by Farragut and surrendered after city fell. In 1898 and 1917-18 used as training base. 1961-Fort was declared a national monument.

1815: Two historic military battles occurred in the parishãthe failed attempt by the British navy in 1815 to neutralize Fort St. Philip and coordinate the attack against Andrew Jackson in Chalmette; and the Civil War battle in 1862 when Captain David FarragutËs Union fleet fought its way past Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson to capture New Orleans. This second military battle was a serious blow to the Confederacy.

1844: Plaquemines Parish received national notoriety in the Polk-Clay presidential election of 1844, when the parish gave Polk a majority of 970 where only 272 voters had been listed in the preceding census. It was charged that Judge Leonard, a Plaquemines politician acting under the orders of John Slidell, chartered two boats at New Orleans, put 350 men on board, and carried them to Plaquemines to vote for Polk. Although the Pennsylvania vote really carried the election for Polk the so called „Plaquemines Frauds¾ gave him a majority in Louisiana. Protests, both local and nation-wide, brought about an investigation by the state legislature. But no flagrant fraud was established against the Democrats, who claimed that the men were legally qualified voters who had been deprived of voting at New Orleans.

1900: In the twentieth century Plaquemines Parish discovered another abundance beneath the surface of the earth. Below the marsh and the shallow waters of the Gulf, oil, natural gas and sulfur exist in such huge quantities that Plaquemines has become one of the richest parishes in Louisiana. Sulfur was found at Lake Washington and Grande Ecaille in 1932 and within four years over a quarter-million long tons were being produced there. Millions of barrels of oil and cubic feet of natural gas have flowed from wells in the Gulf and the marsh around the parish.

Until the twentieth century the low-lying lands of Plaquemines Parish were frequently damaged by floods and hurricanes. In this century natureËs ravages has been reduced to a minimum through federal flood control measures, better building codes and successful evacuation plans of the residents.

The heritage of the parish is primarily French, Italian and Slavic. Yugoslav immigrants settled here in the late 19th century. Although the parish has no incorporated communities, unincorporated areas line both banks of the river. The principle communities are Pointe a la Hache, Belle Chasse, Buras and Triumph.

Pointe-a-la-Hache, the parish seat, is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, about fifty miles below New Orleans. The first church in the town was built in 1820, the jail in 1835, and the present courthouse in 1890. The first newspaper in the parish, The Rice Planter ,was published at Pointe a la Hache during the decade preceding the Civil War.

Belle Chasse is a thriving west bank community, about seven miles down the river from New Orleans. It has immediate access to the urban amenities of New Orleans and Jefferson parish, yet retains its rural atmosphere.

Buras, the orange center of the parish, existed as several tiny settlements with no name until 1840, when seven brothers of the Buras family moved from France and settled in the area. The community of Triumph is a smaller version of Buras.

1986: In 1986 voters elected to change the parishËs government from the commission council system, which had run it since 1960, to a president council.

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