Discover

The 'U.S. state of 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).
Louisiana was formed from French and Spanish colonies, which were both officially Roman Catholic. Consequently, local government was based upon parishes, as the local ecclesiastical division. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Territorial Legislative Council divided Orleans Territory (the predecessor of Louisiana state) into twelve counties. The borders of these counties were poorly defined, but they roughly coincided with the colonial parishes, and hence used the same names.^[1]
On 31 March 1807, the territorial legislature divided the state into 19 parishes, without getting rid of the old counties (which continued to exist until 1845).^[2]
In 1811, a constitutional convention was held to prepare for Louisiana's admission into the Union.^[3] This 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 for Louisiana's primary civil divisions has been ''parishes''.

Contents

Alphabetical listing

Defunct parishes

Counties

Fictional parishes

References

Alphabetical listing

Parish name	FIPS code	Parish seat	Formed	Origin	Area	Map

|}

Defunct parishes

#Biloxi Parish formed in 1811 from West Florida territory. It was eliminated in 1812 when part of the former West Florida area was transferred to Mississippi Territory.
#Carroll Parish formed in 1838 from part of Ouachita Parish. In 1877, it was divided into East Carroll Parish and West Carroll Parish.
#Feliciana Parish formed in 1810 from West Florida territory. In 1824, it was divided in 1824 into East Feliciana Parish and West Feliciana Parish.
#Pascagoula Parish formed in 1811 from West Florida territory. It was eliminated in 1812 when part of the former West Florida area was transferred to Mississippi Territory.
#Warren Parish formed in 1811 from part of Concordia Parish, and merged into Concordia Parish and Ouachita Parish in 1814.

Counties

The thirteen counties defined by the Territorial Legislative Council in 1803 were:
#Acadia County
#Attakapas County
#Concordia County
#German Coast County
#Iberville County
#Lafourche County
#Natchitoches County
#Opelousas County
#Orleans County
#Ouachita County
#Pointe Coupee County
#Rapides County
In addition, Feliciana County was established in 1810 from West Florida territory.

Fictional parishes

In the novel ''A Confederacy of Dunces'', author John Kennedy Toole created the fictional "St. Odo of Cluny Parish".
In the novels ''Little Altars Everywhere'', ''Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'', and ''Ya-Yas in Bloom'', author Rebecca Wells created the fictional "Garnet Parish".
The movie Steel Magnolias was said to take place in the fictional "Chinquapin Parish".

References

★ Find a County - ''Counties, parish seats, areas, names and date of formation of current parishes''

★ Louisiana County Formation Maps - ''Formation dates and origin of parishes''
1. Bryansite - Louisiana parishes
2. Louisiana Timeline - 1807
3. ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html The Admission of Louisiana into the Union