Albany, Louisiana

It is speculated that the name of the community is derived from the Choctaw word abani which means "to cook over a fire" in the Choctaw language.{{cite book|last=Leeper|first=Clare D'Artois |title=Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns, Cities, Plantations, Bayous, and Even Some Cemeteries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHeeUa0xNxcC&pg=PA12|date=October 19, 2012 |publisher=LSU Press |isbn=978-0-8071-4740-5|page=12}} After interviewing many of the older residents and comparing their answers it was determined that the community was named after the nearby Natalbany River. During an interview Mrs. George (Mary Addison) Cunningham who was born on November 11, 1884, stated that when the Illinois Central Railroad built a line through the town they tried to name the community Natalbany but the railroad and post office refused the name because there was already a community with the same name.{{cite web |first=D. N. |last=Pardue |url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/livingston/history/town/albany.txt |title=Albany, Livingston Parish, Louisiana |quote= From the book entitled The Free State - A History and Place-Names Study of Livingston Parish by the members of the Livingston Parish American Revolution Bicentennial Committee in cooperation with the Livingston Parish Police Jury and the Louisiana American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1976. |website=LAGenWeb Archives |access-date=2019-08-31}}

Historic Hungarian Settlement is in Albany. Between 1896 and 1920 hundreds of Hungarian immigrants settled here and named the community Árpádhon. In 1900, there were eleven families living in the Hungarian Settlement and by 1908 there were about forty Hungarian families on new farms in the area. By 1910, there were sixty-five families. In 1920, there were about two hundred families on farms in the area. The Hungarian name is derived from Árpád, the leader of the Hungarian tribes and -hon meaning home. Árpádhon was the largest rural Hungarian settlement in the United States at that time with an estimated 350 Hungarian families living within the community.{{cite web|author1=Fanni Kaszás|url=https://hungarytoday.hu/arpadhon-a-hungarian-settlement-in-rural-louisiana/ |title=Árpádhon, a Hungarian Settlement in Rural Louisiana|publisher=HungaryToday |accessdate=August 31, 2019}} During the 1930s many of the Hungarian families became strawberry farmers.{{cite web |url=http://www.magyars.org/history-of-arpadhon |title=Community History |first=Victoria |last=Mocsary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705025729/http://www.magyars.org/Community-hist.html |archive-date=2008-07-05 |url-status=live}}

Albany is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 190 and Louisiana Highway 43 and I-12 passes south of the city. The Little Natalbany River flows past the east side of the city and joins the Natalbany River approximately two miles to the southeast.Albany, LA and Springfield, LA, 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangles, USGS, 1974 and 1963 (1978 and 1984 revisions resp.)

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of {{convert|1.1|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

{{US Census population

|1960= 557

|1970= 700

|1980= 857

|1990= 645

|2000= 865

|2010= 1088

|2020= 1235

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2015}}

}}

As of the census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |accessdate=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }} of 2000, there were 865 people, 371 households, and 234 families residing in the town. By the 2010 census, its population grew to 1,088; in 2020, its population was 1,235.

• The Hungarian Settlement School is located in Albany and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 2001. The old school is home to the Hungarian Settlement Museum and the grand opening was celebrated on September 27, 2017.
• In 1909, a twenty-acre church site was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Juhasz and in that same year, Archbishop James Blenk from the Archdiocese of New Orleans approved the official name of St. Margaret Catholic Church
• Albany Plantation, which promotes the heritage of the French Cajun culture of Louisiana, sits on 34 acres of land.

Albany is within the Livingston Parish Public Schools system.

Schools that serve Albany include:

• Albany Lower Elementary School (Louisiana)
• Albany Upper Elementary School (Louisiana)
• Albany Middle School (Louisiana)
• Albany High School

The town has a Mayor and a Board of Aldermen. It is governed by the Lawrason Act, with an elected Chief of Police and a Mayor's Court.{{cite web |url=https://www.townofalbanyla.com/ |title=Town of Albany |first= |last= |archive-url= |archive-date=|access-date=March 25, 2025 |url-status=live}}

• List of municipalities in Louisiana

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.hungarianmuseum.com/ Hungarian Settlement Museum]
• [http://stmargaretstthomas.com St. Margaret Queen of Scotland Church]
• [http://www.magyars.org/ Árpádhon Hungarian Settlement Cultural Association]

{{Commons category|Albany, Louisiana}}

{{Livingston Parish, Louisiana}}

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Category:Hungarian-American history

Category:Towns in Livingston Parish, Louisiana

Category:Towns in Louisiana

Category:Towns in Baton Rouge metropolitan area