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
and
Baton Rouge 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 fl ...
, and are part of the larger
Acadiana region.
Traditionally they are considered to be
St. Charles Parish,
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 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. 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 km
2 (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 km
2 (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 Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 count ...
s:
LaPlace,
Luling,
Destrehan, and
Reserve. Its two largest incorporated cities are located in Ascension Parish, which may not be considered by some to be within the community:
Gonzales and
Donaldsonville. 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
LaPlace in St. John the Baptist Parish. But with Ascension Parish, the largest community would be instead Prairieville.
See also
*
Cancer Alley – health impacts from industrial plants in the parishes
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
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