Ironton, Louisiana

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in Louisiana, U.S.}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

File:LocalizadoriRONTON.PNG

File:IrontonLAStPaulMBChurch.JPG

Ironton is an unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020527061848/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html|archive-date=2002-05-27|url-status=dead}}

Ironton is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, between Louisiana Highway 23 and the river. The community has historically had a majority-black population. During the long reign of segregationist Plaquemines Parish boss Leander Perez (and continuing under his immediate successors), Ironton was denied infrastructure development granted to white communities in the area. Running water was not provided by the parish until 1980, and only after stories of the residents' demand for this common amenity had been publicized by Time Magazine and CBS 60 Minutes.Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta, by Glen Jeansonne, University of Mississippi Press, 2006, p. 397

Like most of the area, Ironton was devastated in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina and its resulting storm surge.

On August 29, 2021, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina, Category 4 storm Hurricane Ida came ashore just south of Ironton, completely devastating the area for the second time in two decades.