The River Parishes are those parishes in

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 ...

between

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of 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-sma ...

that span both banks of 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 f ...

, and are part of the larger

Acadiana Acadiana ( French and Louisiana French: ''L'Acadiane''), also known as the Cajun Country (Louisiana French: ''Le Pays Cadjin'', es, País Cajún), is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained mu ...

region. Traditionally they are considered to be

St. Charles Parish St. Charles Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Charles) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, its population was 52,549. The parish seat is Hahnville and the most populous community is Luling. The parish was ...

, St. James Parish, and

St. John the Baptist Parish St. John the Baptist Parish (SJBP, french: Paroisse de Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 42,477. The parish seat is Edgard, an unincorporated area, and the largest c ...

. These parishes also made up a historical area once referred to as the

German Coast The German Coast (French: ''Côte des Allemands'', Spanish: ''Costa Alemana'', German: ''Deutsche Küste'') was a region of early Louisiana settlement located above New Orleans, and on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Specifically, from ea ...

of Louisiana. The River Road runs through the parishes. Three of the parishes, St. Charles , St. John the Baptist and St. James, are also part of the

New Orleans metropolitan area The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans (french: Grande Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Gran Nueva Orleans), is a me ...

, based on the

U.S. 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 the ...

definition.

Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (french: Paroisse de l'Ascension, es, Parroquia de Ascensión) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created ...

, was known historically as the

Acadian Coast The Acadian Coast is a name which is applied by historians to the section of Louisiana along the Mississippi River that was settled by the exiled Acadians, beginning in 1764. While applying particularly to the present Saint James Parish, the term ...

. Ascension Parish, sometimes included as part of the River Parishes sub-region, is home to the

River Parishes Community College River Parishes Community College is a public community college in Gonzales, Louisiana. It was previously located in Sorrento, Louisiana but was moved to Gonzales in 2014 with the construction of a new campus in the Edenborne Development. In Aug ...

, chartered in 1997. The area contains many architecturally significant historic

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 ...

s that are included among Louisiana's listings in the National Register of Historic Places. The three traditional parishes have a combined land area of 1,939.04 km² (748.67 sq mi). They have a total 2010 census population of 120,459 inhabitants. If Ascension Parish is included, the total land area is 2,694.10 km² (1,040.198 sq mi) and the census population is 228,345. Its four largest communities are all unincorporated

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

LaPlace Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summarized ...

, Luling,

Destrehan Destrehan is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 11,340. Etymology The community is named after Jean Noël Destréhan (1754–1823), who was twice President of ...

, and

Reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

. Its two largest incorporated cities are located in Ascension Parish, which may not be considered by some to be within the community:

Gonzales Gonzales may refer to: Places * Gonzales, California, U.S. * Gonzales, Louisiana, U.S. * Gonzales, Texas, U.S. * Gonzales County, Texas Other uses * Battle of Gonzales, 1835 * Gonzales (horse) (1977 – after 1996), an American-bred Thoroughbred ...

and

Donaldsonville Donaldsonville (historically french: Lafourche-des-Chitimachas) is a city in, and the parish seat of Ascension Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located along the River Road of the west bank of the Mississippi River, it is a part of the Bat ...

. Its largest community is also an unincorporated community in Ascension Parish census-designated place: Prairieville according to 2020 estimates. Another sizable community within the traditional parishes is St. Rose, also unincorporated. Still smaller in population, however, are the largest incorporated towns in the three-parish area: Lutcher and Gramercy. The largest of all communities in this region is

in St. John the Baptist Parish. But with Ascension Parish, the largest community would be instead Prairieville.

References

External links

River Parishes Tourist CommissionAscension Parish Tourist Commission
** Former regions and territories of the United States Acadiana Geography of Ascension Parish, Louisiana Geography of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Geography of St. James Parish, Louisiana Geography of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana {{Louisiana-geo-stub

See also

References

External links