Montegut is a

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 counte ...

(CDP) in Terrebonne Parish,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. The population was 1,540 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Houma– Bayou Cane– Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area. Montegut was the primary filming location for the 2012 film ''

Beasts of the Southern Wild ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' is a 2012 American fantasy-drama film directed, co-written, and co-scored by Benh Zeitlin. It was adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar's one-act play ''Juicy and Delicious''. The film stars Quvenzhan� ...

''.

History

Montegut developed around a sugar mill founded in 1883. Named by Congressman Edward James Gay when the post office was opened in 1885, it honored Gabriel Montegut, a prominent resident of

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 five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

Houma.Cenac, Christopher Everette
Hard Scrabble to Hallelujah, Volume 1: Bayou Terrebonne: Legacies of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
(2016) The 1941 WPA guide to Louisiana reported an elevation of 8 feet and population of 200.Louisiana; a guide to the state
p. 421 (1941)

Geography

Montegut is located at (29.473700, -90.555381). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of 4.5 square miles (11.8 km), of which 4.5 square miles (11.6 km) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km) (1.54%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,465 people, 594 households, and 443 families residing in the CDP.

Education

Terrebonne Parish School District operates public schools. Montegut Elementary School and Montegut Middle School are in the community. École Pointe-au-Chien, a public school (non-district) in Pointe-aux-Chenes, has a Montegut postal address, though it is not in the Montegut CDP. It was the former Pointe-aux-Chenes Elementary School, a Terrebonne Parish public school which closed in 2021. The parish is in the service area of Fletcher Technical Community College. Additionally, a Delgado Community College document stated that Terrebonne Parish was in the college's service area.

In popular culture

The 2012 film ''

'' was filmed in Montegut. Director

Benh Zeitlin Benjamin Harold Zeitlin (; born October 14, 1982) is an American filmmaker, best known for directing and co-writing the 2012 film ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'', for which he received two Academy Award nominations. Early life Zeitlin was born i ...

and his crew worked out of an abandoned gas station in town. They built the film's fictional settlement—the "Bathtub"—by hand with found artifacts and rusted-out equipment from the surrounding area. The film was nominated for four

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

Notable people

Allen J. Ellender, a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from Louisiana from 1937 to 1972, and the President pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate from 1971 to 1972, was born here.Laurence Kestenbaum. https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/LA/TB-buried.html Retrieved March 23, 2023

References

External links

Montegut's daily newspaper -- Houmatoday.com

<--''Broken link May 2015''. {{authority control Census-designated places in Louisiana Census-designated places in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana Census-designated places in Houma – Thibodaux metropolitan area