Plaquemine is a city in and the
parish seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Iberville Parish,
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 is part of the
Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. At the
2010 United States census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
, the population was 7,119;
the
2020 census determined its population was 6,269.
History
![Plaquemine, Louisiana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Plaquemine%2C_Louisiana.jpg)
Early inhabitants of the area were the
Chitimacha
The Chitimacha ( ; or ) are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans who live in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly on their reservation in St. Mary Parish near Charenton on Bayou Teche. They are the only Indigenous people in the st ...
people.
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...
claimed all of Louisiana in 1699 for King
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
.
Plaquemine was settled by 1775 and named for the Native word ''Plakemine'', which means
persimmon
The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-per ...
.
Due to its location at the juncture of the Bayou Plaquemine and the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
, the village soon began to prosper and grow, beginning a long history of prosperity. By 1838, the town was incorporated, electing
Zénon Labauve, for whom a street in New Orleans'
Garden District is named, as its first mayor.
Plaquemine continued to grow in the
Antebellum era. Massive
plantations
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. Th ...
were established in nearby regions, including
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Nottoway, and
Belle Grove. The town has been the seat of Iberville Parish government since its incorporation. The second parish courthouse (c. 1906) on Railroad Avenue has been serving as City Hall since 1985. Plaquemine did not have a hospital until 1923.
Plaquemine has been a Louisiana-designated Main Street City since 1993. There are ten properties listed for Plaquemine on the
.
Geography
The city of Plaquemine is located at (30.284044, −91.240485)
and has an elevation of above sea level.
Plaquemine is located at the junction of
Bayou Plaquemine and the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
. The city itself is surrounded by farmland; beyond the farmland to the west lies nearly uninhabited swampland.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 2.75%, are water.
It lies within the
Baton Rouge metropolitan area
The Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, or simply the Baton Rouge metropolitan area or Greater Baton Rouge, is a sprawling metropolitan statistical area surrounding the city ...
.
Demographics
The
2020 census determined 6,269 people lived in the city.
At the
2000 United States census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...
,
there were 7,064 people, 2,593 households, and 1,846 families residing in the city.
At the 2019
American Community Survey, the racial and ethnic makeup was 54.9%
Black and African American, 38.6%
non-Hispanic white, 0.1%
two or more races
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
, and 6.4%
Hispanic and Latin American of any race. In 2000, the racial and ethnic makeup of the city was 49.26%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 49.60% African American, 0.17%
American Indian and Alaska Native
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States (Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United States are ...
, 0.27%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.03%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.08% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic and Latin Americans of any race were 1.15% of the population.
In 2000, there were 2,593 households, out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 22.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.21. In 2019, there were 2,578 households and an average of 2.54 people per household.
From 2015 to 2019, the median household income was $44,457, and the per capita income was $24,871.
Males had a median income of $61,418 versus $27,875 for females. Approximately 27.0% of the population lived at or below the poverty line. In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $28,364, and the median income for a family was $32,971. Males had a median income of $34,868 versus $21,016 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,066. About 23.6% of families and 24.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.8% of those under age 18 and 17.5% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
Annual cultural events
Plaquemine's annual International
Acadian Festival draws visitors from all over the world. Local
Mardi Gras celebrations also attract tourists.
Tourism
Plaquemine is noted for a number of antebellum structures that survive within the city limits and along Bayou Road. One of the most noteworthy homes is St. Basil's, a riverfront mansion built by socialite physician Dr. John Scratchley in the 1850s. Now a private residence, the home retains the name St. Basil's from when it was a fashionable convent school.
The Iberville Museum was built in 1949 as the Iberville Parish Courthouse. The building served as Plaquemine's first city hall, and was the city seat of government until 1985. It now serves as a parish museum, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Plaquemine Lock, constructed from 1895 to 1909, was an important link between the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
and the Intracoastal Canal, of which Bayou Plaquemine served as its northern terminus. Its design served as the prototype for the
Panama Canal locks
The Panama Canal locks ( es, Esclusas del Canal de Panamá) are a lock system that lifts ships up to the main elevation of the Panama Canal and down again. The original canal had a total of six steps (three up, three down) for a ship's passage. ...
; the Plaquemine Lock was shut down in 1961. In 1974, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
, colors =
, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
, battles =
, battles_label = Wars
, website =
, commander1 = ...
supervised the construction of the
levee that runs across the mouth of Bayou Plaquemine at the Mississippi River. The Plaquemine Lock was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1972. The area now operates as a state park.
Education
Iberville Parish School Board
Iberville Parish School Board (IPSB) is a school district headquartered in Plaquemine, Louisiana, United States. The district serves Iberville Parish.
History
In 2013 some officials from the City of St. Gabriel announced that they wished to sec ...
operates public schools.
Plaquemine High School is outside the city limits, in an
unincorporated area
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 ...
.
Mathematics, Science, and Arts Academy - West is outside the city limits, in an unincorporated area.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Plaquemine is accessed by four highways: LA 3066,
LA 75,
LA 77, and the scenic
LA 1. Other highways include LA 992 (Tenant Road) and LA 405. LA 3066 continues from Court Street to "Down the Bayou" neighborhoods. LA 75 accesses east over the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
via toll ferry to
Saint Gabriel and leads southwest from Plaquemine, eventually reaching
Bayou Pigeon. LA 77 starts around the Island Country Club and continues northwest to
Maringouin. LA 1 runs north to Interstate 10/Baton Rouge and south to
Donaldsonville. Plaquemine lacks public transportation and its residents rely completely on the use of the automobile.
National Guard
Plaquemine is the home of the 256th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, formerly known as the 1088th Engineer Battalion, a unit made up of
combat engineer
A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tas ...
,
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
,
signal
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...
,
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
and other supporting units. The 256th BSTB is part of the
256th Infantry Brigade of the Louisiana
Army National Guard that served in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
from 2004 to 2005.
Notable people
*
Chad M. Brown, member of the
Louisiana House of Representatives for Iberville and Assumption parishes, effective January 2016
*
Robert "Bobby" Freeman (1934-2016),
lieutenant governor of Louisiana
The lieutenant governor of Louisiana (french: Lieutenant-Gouverneur de la Louisiane) is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current lieutenant governor is Billy Nungesser, a Republican. The lieutenant governor is also the commiss ...
from 1980 to 1988; Plaquemine lawyer
*
Davon Godchaux
Davon Montel Godchaux (born November 11, 1994) is an American football defensive tackle for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU from 2014 to 2016. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins ...
, American football player
*
Lee Meitzen Grue, poet and educator
*
Bill Lee, former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
pitcher, played for the
Chicago Cubs,
Philadelphia Phillies, and
Boston Braves
*
Brian Mitchell, former
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
football player, played football at Plaquemine High School
*
Karen St. Germain
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for Iberville and Assumption parishes, 2004–2016; resides in Plaquemine
*
Clarence Williams, early
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
pianist and composer
References
External links
*
Iberville Parish
{{authority control
Populated places established in 1775
Cities in Louisiana
Louisiana populated places on the Mississippi River
Cities in Iberville Parish, Louisiana
Parish seats in Louisiana
Cities in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area