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Lafourche Parish
Lafourche Parish
Parish
	Lafourche Parish Courthouse
	Location within the U.S. state of Louisiana
	Louisiana's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 29°29′N 90°24′W / 29.49°N 90.4°W
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
Website	www.lafourchegov.org

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.^[1] The parish was formed in 1807.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[5] 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8] In Golden Meadow, LA, the National Weather Service recorded storm surge measurements of 10.1 ft.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] 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.^[11] The southern part of the parish was inundated during Hurricane Juan in 1985.^[11] 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.^[11] 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.^[11] 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.^[11] In the northern part of the parish, the shorter, federally approved levees were overtopped and the communities were flooded.^[11]

Major highways

Adjacent parishes

National protected area

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (part, in Thibodaux)

Communities

City

Thibodaux (parish seat)

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^[12] 1790-1960^[13] 1900-1990^[14] 1990-2000^[15] 2010-2013^[16]

Lafourche Parish racial composition as of 2020^[17]
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.^[18]

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.^[19]

Residents of select portions of Lafourche Parish (particularly in parts of Grand Bois and Bourg) may attend schools in the Terrebonne Parish School District.^[20]

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

Nicholls State University in Thibodaux

The parish is in the service area of Fletcher Technical Community College.^[21] Additionally, a Delgado Community College document stated that Lafourche Parish was in the college's service area.^[22]

National Guard

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

Notable people

Edward Douglass White, Associate Justice (1894-1910) and Chief Justice (1910-1921) of the United States Supreme Court
Jefferson J. DeBlanc (1921-2007), United States Marine Corps fighter pilot and flying ace; received the Medal of Honor for actions during World War II
Dick Guidry (1929-2014), member of Louisiana House of Representatives from 1950 to 1954 and 1964–76. Considered the youngest person ever elected to the Louisiana House.
Bobby Hebert, former NFL quarterback
Harvey Peltier, Jr.
Harvey Peltier, Sr.
Glen Pitre
Loulan Pitre, Jr.
Ed Orgeron, head football coach at LSU, Ole Miss, USC; NFL assistant coach

Politics

United States presidential election results for Lafourche Parish, Louisiana^[23]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	34,461	80.43%	7,864	18.35%	520	1.21%
2020	36,024	79.37%	8,672	19.11%	692	1.52%
2016	31,959	76.74%	8,423	20.23%	1,263	3.03%
2012	28,592	73.17%	9,623	24.63%	860	2.20%
2008	27,089	71.49%	9,662	25.50%	1,142	3.01%
2004	22,734	60.04%	14,417	38.08%	713	1.88%
2000	18,575	53.92%	14,627	42.46%	1,247	3.62%
1996	12,105	34.99%	18,810	54.37%	3,681	10.64%
1992	12,744	35.75%	16,182	45.40%	6,719	18.85%
1988	16,152	50.19%	15,013	46.65%	1,014	3.15%
1984	20,930	65.40%	10,186	31.83%	889	2.78%
1980	14,951	48.51%	14,222	46.15%	1,645	5.34%
1976	11,434	43.53%	14,131	53.80%	701	2.67%
1972	13,936	67.20%	5,713	27.55%	1,088	5.25%
1968	4,797	22.60%	5,516	25.99%	10,910	51.41%
1964	6,164	33.85%	12,045	66.15%	0	0.00%
1960	2,930	18.25%	12,244	76.26%	881	5.49%
1956	5,741	60.25%	3,466	36.38%	321	3.37%
1952	3,739	40.93%	5,396	59.07%	0	0.00%
1948	1,247	21.09%	1,586	26.82%	3,080	52.09%
1944	875	14.94%	4,980	85.06%	0	0.00%
1940	1,065	23.17%	3,531	76.83%	0	0.00%
1936	1,630	42.59%	2,195	57.36%	2	0.05%
1932	364	12.18%	2,623	87.78%	1	0.03%
1928	243	10.86%	1,994	89.14%	0	0.00%
1924	611	47.40%	678	52.60%	0	0.00%
1920	1,044	75.60%	337	24.40%	0	0.00%
1916	157	8.11%	629	32.51%	1,149	59.38%
1912	315	26.90%	667	56.96%	189	16.14%

References

^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
^ "Lafourche Parish". Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Government Printing Office. p. 179.
^ "2020 Race and Population Totals". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Pfeifer, Michael James (2004). Rough Justice: Lynching and American Society, 1874-1947. University of Illinois Press. pp. 75–77.
^ Bell, Ellen Baker, "Thibodaux Massacre (1887)", KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana, September 15, 2011, access-date April 23, 2017
^ Lynching in America, Third Edition: Supplement by County Archived October 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, p. 6, Equal Justice Initiative, Mobile, AL, 2017
^ ^a ^b John L. Beven II; et al. (April 4, 2022). "Hurricane Ida" (PDF). nhc.noaa.gov. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
^ "Costliest U.S. Tropical Cyclones" (PDF). ncei.noaa.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Thornton, Katie; Juárez, Thalía (August 28, 2024). "This man saved his town from deadly floodwaters. So why did the US government try to stop him?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 7, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
^ "Language Map Data Center".
^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Lafourche Parish, LA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022. - Text list
^ "SCHOOL ATTENDANCE BOUNDARIES Archived 2016-12-02 at the Wayback Machine." Lafourche Parish Public Schools. Retrieved on December 2, 2016.
^ "Our Colleges". Louisiana's Technical and Community Colleges. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
^ "The Economic Value of Delgado Community College" (PDF). Delgado Community College. Retrieved March 9, 2024. For the purposes of this analysis, the Delgado Service Area is comprised of [...]Lafourche,[...]
^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 6, 2018.