Cloutierville is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Natchitoches Parish
Natchitoches Parish (french: Paroisse des Natchitoches or ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,566. The parish seat is Natchitoches. The parish was formed in 1805.
The Natchito ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, United States. It lies approximately south of the city of
Natchitoches on the
Cane River
Cane River (''Rivière aux Cannes'') is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 3, 2011 formed from a portion of the Red River that is located in Natchitoches Pa ...
. The community is part of the Natchitoches
Micropolitan Statistical Area, off exit 119 of
Interstate 49
Interstate 49 (I-49) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in multiple segments: the original portion entirely within the state of Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from I-220 in Shreveport to the Arkansas s ...
.
This is a homeland of many multiracial Louisiana Creole people. It is in the NPS
Cane River National Heritage Area
The Cane River National Heritage Area is a United States National Heritage Area in the state of Louisiana. The heritage area is known for plantations featuring Creole architecture, as well as numerous other sites that preserve the multi-cultural h ...
.
History
The town was built on the
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
of Alexis Cloutier and incorporated in 1822.
The
plantation house
A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...
was later owned by
Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin (, also ; born Katherine O'Flaherty; February 8, 1850 – August 22, 1904) was an American author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. She is considered by scholars to have been a forerunner of American 20th-century feminis ...
. Chopin's former home was open to the public as the
Bayou Folk Museum, before its destruction by fire in 2008.
The historic wooden St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and its cemetery are located in Cloutierville.
Education
The community is served by
Natchitoches Parish School Board
Natchitoches Parish School Board (NPSB) is a school district headquartered in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States. The current Superintendent is Dr. Grant Eloi.
Schools
PK-2 Schools
L.P. Vaughn Elementary School(Natc ...
.
People from Cloutierville
Milton Joseph Cunningham, who served for three nonconsecutive terms ending in 1900 as
Attorney General of Louisiana, taught school in Cloutierville from 1858 to 1860, when he thereafter entered the
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
; member of both houses of the state legislature from 1878 to 1884 and lawyer in Natchitoches and
Leopold Caspari
Leopold Caspari (July 28, 1830March 11, 1915) was a Louisiana businessman and politician who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1884 to 1892, where he advocated the establishment of Northwestern State University.
Born in L ...
, a Natchitoches businessman and banker who served in both houses of the
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...
between 1884 and 1914, was a merchant in Cloutierville between 1849 and 1858.
Numa T. Delouche, a state representative from Natchitoches Parish, serving alongside
Sylvan Friedman from 1944 to 1948, resided in Cloutierville and is interred at the St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery there.
Former State Representative
Jean Doerge
Jean McGlothlin Doerge (born June 4, 1937; pronounced DURR-ghee) is director of the Germantown Colony and Museum in Webster Parish, Louisiana and a former Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who represented District 10 (Web ...
of
Webster Parish
Webster Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Webster'') is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of Louisiana.
The seat of the parish is Minden.
As of the 2010 census, the Webster Parish population was 41,207. In 2018, the p ...
, a retired educator, is a graduate of Cloutierville High School.
See also
*
Cane River National Heritage Area topics
*
References
Unincorporated communities in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Cane River National Heritage Area
Populated places in Ark-La-Tex
Unincorporated communities in Louisiana
{{Louisiana-geo-stub