St. Mary Parish () is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,406. 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 five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

. The parish was created in 1811. St. Mary Parish comprises the Morgan City, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Lafayette-

Opelousas Opelousas (; ) is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were constructed with a junction here. According to the 2020 census, Opelousas has a population of 15,786, a 6 ...

-Morgan City, LA Combined Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the parish has a total area of , of which is land and (50%) is water. Cypremort Point State Park is located in the parish on Vermilion Bay.

Major highways

* Future Interstate 49 *

U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Int ...

Louisiana Highway 83 Louisiana Highway 83 (LA 83) is a state highway located in southern Louisiana. It runs in a general east–west direction from LA 14 in New Iberia to LA 182 in Baldwin. The route essentially forms a loop off of U.S. Highway ...

* Louisiana Highway 87 *

Louisiana Highway 182 Louisiana Highway 182 (LA 182) is a state highway located in central and southeastern Louisiana. It runs in a northwest to southeast direction from LA 29 in Whiteville to U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) north of Raceland. Along the ...

* Louisiana Highway 317 * Louisiana Highway 318

Adjacent parishes

Iberia Parish Iberia Parish (, ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 69,929; the parish seat is New Iberia. The parish was formed in 1868 during the Reconstruction era and named for Iberia. It is p ...

(north) * St. Martin Parish (east) *

Assumption Parish Assumption Parish (, ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,039. Its parish seat is Napoleonville. Assumption Parish was established in 1807, as one of the original parishes of the ...

(southeast) *

Terrebonne Parish Terrebonne Parish ( ; French: ''Paroisse de Terrebonne'') is a parish located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 109,580. The parish seat is Houma. The parish was founded in 1822. Terr ...

(south)

Protected areas

The parish has both national and state protected areas within its borders.

National protected area

Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge is located in the coastal towns of Franklin, Garden City and Centerville on Bayou Teche in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The refuge is forested with bottomland hardwoods and cypress-gum forests ...

State protected areas

Part of the Attakapas Wildlife Management Area is located within St. Mary Parish as well as in St. Martin and

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

Parishes.

Communities

Cities

(parish seat) * Morgan City *

Patterson Patterson may refer to: People * Patterson (surname) * Patterson family Places ;Australia * Patterson railway station ;Canada * Pattersons Corners, Ontario * Patterson Township, Ontario * Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. ...

Towns

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

* Berwick

Census-designated places

* Amelia * Bayou Vista * Centerville * Charenton * Glencoe * Siracusaville *

Sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ("dock" being a common name for the genus ''Ru ...

Other unincorporated areas

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

* Garden City

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 49,406 people, 19,856 households, and 11,354 families residing in the parish. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 53,500 people, 19,317 households, and 14,082 families residing in the parish. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 21,650 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the parish was 62.79%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 31.79%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.39% Native American, 1.64% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.88% from other races, and 1.50% from two or more races. 2.15% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 5.43% reported speaking

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Cajun French Louisiana French (Louisiana French: ''français louisianais''; ) includes the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisiana French is primarily use ...

at home, while 2.45% speak

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and 1.59%

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

. There were 19,317 households, out of which 36.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 16.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.10% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.23. In the parish the population was spread out, with 29.70% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.20 males. The median income for a household in the parish was $28,072, and the median income for a family was $33,064. Males had a median income of $31,570 versus $18,341 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the parish was $13,399. About 20.60% of families and 23.60% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 31.30% of those under age 18 and 19.00% of those age 65 or over.

Education

St. Mary Parish School Board operates local public schools. Th
Chitimacha Day School
affiliated with the

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...

(BIE), is in the Charenton community of unincorporated St. Mary Parish. It is in the service area of

Fletcher Technical Community College L. E. Fletcher Technical Community College is a community college in Schriever, Louisiana, United States, in Terrebonne Parish. The school was founded on June 23, 1948. Its service area includes Iberia, Lafourche, St. Mary Mary was a firs ...

Media

St. Mary Parish has two daily newspapers, the ''Morgan City Daily Review'' (circulation under 6,000) and the ''

Franklin Banner-Tribune The ''Franklin Banner-Tribune'' is a small bi-weekly newspaper which circulates in Franklin, the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. History The original newspaper dates to before the American Civil War. From 1950-1965, the ''Banner-Tr ...

'' in Franklin (circulation 3,350).

National Guard

B Company 2-156TH Infantry Battalion of the

256TH IBCT The 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team ("Louisiana Brigade") is a modular infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) of the Louisiana Army National Guard. It is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. Currently the brigade is part of the 28th Infantry ...

resides in

Franklin, Louisiana Franklin is a small city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,229 as of 2024. The city is located on Bayou Teche, southeast of the cities of Lafayette, and New Iberia, , and northwest of ...

. This unit has deployed to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

twice, 2004-5 and 2010.

Politics

St. Mary Parish was a swing parish between 1932 and 2004, when it only voted for losing presidential candidates in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, with none of these candidates receiving a majority. Since 2008, the parish has become more Republican leaning, with Donald Trump breaking 60% of the vote in all his runs.

Notable people

Alexander Allain Alexander Peter Allain (June 27, 1920 – January 5, 1994) was an American lawyer and library advocate known for his work securing the freedom of expression."In memoriam: Alexander Peter Allain 1920-1994", ''Louisiana Libraries'', Winter 2006, 4. ...

(1920 – 1994), lawyer, library advocate who was one of the 100 most influential library leaders of the 20th century."In memoriam: Alexander Peter Allain 1920-1994", ''Louisiana Libraries'', Winter 2006, 4. The

Louisiana Library Association The Louisiana Library Association (LLA) is a professional organization for Louisiana's librarians and library workers. It is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The LLA publishes ''The LLA Bulletin'' (est. 1937) and ''Louisiana Libraries'' m ...

named its annual

intellectual freedom Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and ...

award for him. *

Bret Allain Robert Lebreton Allain II is an American politician from Adeline, Louisiana. A Republican, Allain represented District 21 in the Louisiana State Senate from 2012 to 2024. His son Robert ran to succeed him. Career Before entering elected office ...

(born c. 1958), sugar cane farmer and the current District 21

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

from St. Mary Parish * Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock (1915–1987), state

House Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

from 1952 to 1956 and

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

from 1960 to 1972 *

Carl W. Bauer Carl Wiegmann Bauer (October 4, 1933 – June 11, 2013) was a lawyer and businessman who served as a Democrat in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from 1966 to 1976 and capped his career as the chief lobbyist, specifically the "Coo ...

(1933-2013), attorney-lobbyist; former member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature *

Ralph Norman Bauer Ralph Norman Bauer, sometimes known as R. Norman Bauer (May 1899 - March 13, 1963), was a lawyer from Franklin in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1928 to 1936 and a ...

(1899-1963), attorney; former Speaker of the Louisiana House; a leader of the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

forces against

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Huey P. Long, Jr., in 1929 * V.J. Bella (born 1927), former state representative (1972–1990) and state fire marshal (1990–1992; 1996–2004) *

Elizabeth Bisland Elizabeth Bisland Wetmore (February 11, 1861 – January 6, 1929) was an American journalist and author, perhaps now best known for her 1889–1890 race around the world against Nellie Bly, which drew worldwide attention. The majority of her wri ...

(1861–1929), noted journalist and authorMarks, Jason. ''Around the World in 72 Days: The race between Pulitzer's Nellie Bly and Cosmopolitan's Elizabeth Bisland'' (Gemittarius Press 1993) () *

Sally Clausen Sally Clausen (born July 4, 1945) is an American administrator who is executive director of the Ingram Center for Public Trusteeship and Governance, an affiliate of the United States of America#Education, American Association of Governing Boards ...

, former president of

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it beca ...

in Hammoned and Louisiana commissioner of higher education; reared in St. Mary Parish * Thomas G. Clausen, Louisiana education superintendent from 1984 to 1988; reared in St. Mary Parish * Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. (1930-2020),

governor of Louisiana The governor of Louisiana (; ) is the chief executive of the U.S. state government of Louisiana. The governor also serves as the commander in chief of the Louisiana National Guard. Republican Jeff Landry has held the office since January 8, ...

from 1996 to 2004 *

Elizabeth Francis Elizabeth Francis (July 25, 1909 – October 22, 2024) was an American supercentenarian who was the oldest-living person in the United States from the death of Edie Ceccarelli on February 22, 2024, until her own death on October 22, 2024. Bio ...

(1909-2024),

supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...

who until her death in 2024 was the oldest living American and the world's third oldest living person *

Geronimo Pratt Elmer Gerard "Geronimo" Pratt (September 13, 1947–June 2, 2011), also known as Geronimo Ji-Jaga and Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, was a decorated military veteran and a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party in the United States in the late 19 ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran who served twenty-seven years in prison wrongfully accused of murder * William Joseph Seymour (born 1870), considered to be the most influential African American minister of the twentieth century and pastor of the famous Azusa Street Revival *

Warren Wells Warren Wells (November 14, 1942 – December 27, 2018) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). He played with the Detroit Lio ...

, Pro football player for the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders *

Dale Hawkins Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins (August 22, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Career Hawkins was born in Goldmine Plantat ...

, (born 1936, died 2010) pioneer of swamp rock boogie

References

External links

St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office
{{Coord, 29.64, -91.47, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-LA_source:UScensus1990 Parishes in Acadiana Saint Mary Parish, Louisiana Saint Mary Parish, Louisiana 1811 establishments in the Territory of Orleans Populated places established in 1811