List of parishes in Louisiana

{{Infobox subdivision type

| name = Parishes of Louisiana

| alt_name =

| map = {{Louisiana Parish Labelled Map|width=300}}

| category = Second-level administrative division

| territory = State of Louisiana

| start_date =

| current_number = 64 Parishes

| number_date =

| population_range = Greatest: 453,022 (East Baton Rouge Parish)
Least: 3,844 (Tensas Parish)
Average: 71,840

| area_range = Largest: {{Convert|2429|sqmi}} (Plaquemines Parish)
Smallest: {{Convert|203|sqmi}} (West Baton Rouge Parish)
Average: {{Convert|781|sqmi}}

| government = Parish government

| subdivision = cities, Towns, Census designated place, Unincorporated area

}}

The U.S. state of Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes ({{Langx|fr|paroisses}}; {{Langx|es|parroquias}}), making it the only state besides Alaska to call its primary subdivisions something other than "counties."{{efn|Alaska is divided into boroughs and census areas.}} Louisiana's usage of the term "parish" for a geographic region or local government dates back to the French colonial and Spanish colonial periods and is connected to ecclesiastical parishes.

Thirty-eight parishes are governed by a council called a police jury. The remaining 26 have various other forms of government, including: council-president, council-manager, parish commission, and consolidated parish/city.{{cite web|url=https://www.lpgov.org/page/ParishGovStructure|title=Parish Government Structure - Police Jury Association of Louisiana|publisher= Police Jury Association of LA|access-date=February 23, 2019}}

History

Louisiana was formed from French and Spanish colonies, which were both officially Roman Catholic. Local colonial government was based upon parishes, as the local ecclesiastical division.

Following the Louisiana Purchase, the territorial legislative council in April 1805 divided the Territory of Orleans (the predecessor of Louisiana state) into 12 counties. The borders of these counties were poorly defined, but largely coincided with the colonial ecclesiastical parishes.{{cite web|url=http://www.bryansite.com/countyLA.htm|title=Bryansite - Louisiana parishes|last=Tabor|first=B.}}

On March 31, 1807, the territorial legislature created 19 parishes without abolishing any of the old counties (which term continued to exist until 1845). In 1811, a constitutional convention was held to prepare for Louisiana's admission into the Union.[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/_Texts/LHQ/1/4/Admission_to_the_Union*.html The Admission of Louisiana into the Union] This organized the state into seven judicial districts, each consisting of groups of parishes. In 1816, the first official map of the state used the term parish, as did the 1845 constitution. Since then, the official term for Louisiana's primary civil divisions has been parishes.

The 19 original parishes were joined by Catahoula Parish in 1808. In 1810 four additional parishes were created from the formerly Spanish West Florida territory—these are part of what is now referred to as the Florida Parishes.

By April 1812, Attakapas Parish became St. Martin Parish and St. Mary Parish. On April 30, the state was admitted to the Union with 25 parishes.

By 1820, Washington Parish was added, and Feliciana Parish split into West and East in 1824. The next year, Jefferson Parish was carved from Orleans Parish. By 1830, Claiborne Parish was created, and the old Warren Parish was mostly absorbed into Ouachita Parish, only to return as Carroll Parish a few years later.

In 1838, Caddo Parish was created from Natchitoches, as were Madison and Caldwell parishes in the east. In 1839, Union Parish was formed from Ouachita, and Calcasieu was formed from St. Landry in 1840.

Five parishes were created in 1843: Bossier, DeSoto, Franklin, Sabine, and Tensas. Morehouse Parish and Vermilion Parish were formed from Ouachita and Lafayette parishes, respectively, in 1844. The next year, Jackson Parish was formed, the old county units were abandoned, and the units were officially referred to as "parishes". In 1848, Bienville Parish was formed from Claiborne Parish. In 1852, Winn Parish was formed, while parishes further south added and lost land.

In 1853, Lafourche Interior Parish was renamed to Lafourche Parish. During Reconstruction, state government created a number of new parishes, with the first being Iberia and Richland parishes. Plans for creating a parish like Iberia from St. Martin and St. Mary parishes had dated from the 1840s. (A surveying error in Iberia's creation broke St. Martin Parish into two non-contiguous parts, making it and Norfolk County, Massachusetts as the only county-level units with their own exclaves.) Tangipahoa and Grant parishes followed in 1869. In 1870, the fifth Reconstruction parish, Cameron, was created, which was followed by the sixth, seventh, and eighth parishes (Red River, Vernon, and Webster, respectively) in 1871. The ninth parish to be formed under Radical Republican rule was Lincoln, named after the late president and formed in 1873. In 1877, the old parish of Carroll divided into East and West Carroll parishes, which are unofficially called the tenth and eleventh Reconstruction parishes, as the project ended that year.

No new parishes were formed until 1886, when Acadia Parish was formed from St. Landry. Again, no new parishes were formed, this time until 1908, when the western half of Catahoula parish became LaSalle parish.

In 1910, the parish count rose to 61 with the creation of Evangeline Parish, and the 62nd, 63rd, and 64th parishes (Allen, Beauregard, and Jefferson Davis) were created from areas of Calcasieu Parish. There were several minor boundary changes afterward, the most substantial being the division of Lake Pontchartrain among Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, and St. Charles Parishes in 1979.

Listing

{{Countytabletop

| region_title = Parish

| fips_ref = {{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/codes/ar.html |title=EPA County FIPS Code Listing |work=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=February 23, 2008}}

| region_seat_width =

| region_seat_title = Parish Seat

| region_seat_ref = {{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-counties-total.html

|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties in Louisiana: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019 (CO-EST2019-ANNRES-22) |author=U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. |access-date=May 12, 2020

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327080648/https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-counties-total.html |archive-date=March 27, 2020 }}

| data2_title = {{abbr|Est.|Established}}

| data2_width=

| data2_ref =

| data3_title = Origin

| data4_title = Etymology

| data4_ref = [http://www.oph.dhh.state.la.us/php/default.html Louisiana Dept. of Public Health Parish Profiles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051117221722/http://www.oph.dhh.state.la.us/php/default.html |date=November 17, 2005 }}

| population_ref = {{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/LA/PST045219

|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Louisiana |author=U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. |access-date=March 15, 2025 }}

| area_ref =

}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Acadia |N=22 |Num=001 |Seat=Crowley |Data2=1886 |Data3=from part of St. Landry Parish. |Data4=From Acadian French. Named for the Acadians who settled the area.|Population=56604|Area=658}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Allen |N=22 |Num=003 |Seat=Oberlin |Data2=1912 |Data3=from part of Calcasieu Parish. |Data4=Henry Watkins Allen, the Confederate governor of Louisiana|Population=22501|Area=766}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Ascension |N=22 |Num=005 |Seat=Donaldsonville |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Named for the Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, which was named after the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven|Population=133534|Area=303}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Assumption |N=22 |Num=007 |Seat=Napoleonville |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Named for Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Plattenville, the oldest in the state, which was named after the Assumption of the Virgin Mary|Population=20050|Area=364}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Avoyelles |N=22 |Num=009 |Seat=Marksville |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=The Avoyel Native American people|Population=38373|Area=866}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Beauregard |N=22 |Num=011 |Seat=DeRidder |Data2=1912 |Data3=from part of Calcasieu Parish. |Data4=Confederate general P. G. T. Beauregard|Population=36695|Area=1166}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Bienville |N=22 |Num=013 |Seat=Arcadia |Data2=1848 |Data3=from part of Claiborne Parish. |Data4=Named after the founder of the city of New Orleans, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville|Population=12412|Area=822}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Bossier |N=22 |Num=015 |Seat=Benton

|Data2=1843 |Data3=from part of Claiborne Parish. |Data4=U.S. Representative Pierre Bossier|Population=131102|Area=867}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Caddo |N=22 |Num=017 |Seat=Shreveport |Data2=1838 |Data3=from part of Natchitoches Parish. |Data4= Named for the Caddo Native American people|Population=224893|Area=937}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Calcasieu |N=22 |Num=019 |Seat=Lake Charles |Data2=1840 |Data3=from part of St. Landry Parish. |Data4=After the French form of the Atakapa name {{lang|aqp|Katkōsh Yōk}}, meaning 'Crying Eagle', an Atakapa Native American leader|Population=206861|Area=1094}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Caldwell |N=22 |Num=021 |Seat=Columbia |Data2=1838 |Data3=from part of Catahoula Parish and Ouachita Parish. |Data4=Named for the Caldwell family, which owned a large plantation and remains politically active in the state.|Population=9393|Area=541}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Cameron |N=22 |Num=023 |Seat=Cameron |Data2=1870 |Data3=from parts of Calcasieu Parish and Vermilion Parish. |Data4=U.S. Secretary of War Simon Cameron|Population=4678|Area=1932}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Catahoula |N=22 |Num=025 |Seat=Harrisonburg |Data2=1808 |Data3=from parts of Ouachita Parish and Rapides Parish. |Data4=Catahoula Lake, formerly within the parish's boundaries and named from a Taensa/Natchez word meaning big, clear lake|Population=8280|Area=739}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Claiborne |N=22 |Num=027 |Seat=Homer |Data2=1828 |Data3=from part of Natchitoches Parish. |Data4=Governor of Louisiana William C. C. Claiborne|Population=13537|Area=768}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Concordia |N=22 |Num=029 |Seat=Vidalia |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Name is of uncertain origin; may be from an early land grant called New Concordia, from the "concord" reached by local authorities over a mutual surrender of slaves or for a mansion called Concord which was owned by Spanish governor Manuel Gayoso de Lemos and located in Natchez, Mississippi |Population=17797|Area=749}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=DeSoto |N=22 |Num=031 |Seat=Mansfield |Data2=1843 |Data3=from parts of Caddo Parish and Natchitoches Parish. |Data4=Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto|Population=27274|Area=895}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=East Baton Rouge |N=22 |Num=033 |Seat=Baton Rouge |Data2=1810 |Data3=from West Florida territory. |Data4=French bâton rouge meaning red stick. A red stake was used by local Native Americans to mark the boundaries between tribal territories|Population=453022|Area=471}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=East Carroll |N=22 |Num=035 |Seat=Lake Providence |Data2=1877 |Data3=when Carroll Parish was divided. |Data4=Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence|Population=6892|Area=442}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=East Feliciana |N=22 |Num=037 |Seat=Clinton |Data2=1824 |Data3=when Feliciana Parish was divided. |Data4=Felicite de Gálvez, the wife of Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish governor of Louisiana (New Spain)|Population=19112|Area=456}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Evangeline |N=22 |Num=039 |Seat=Ville Platte |Data2=1910 |Data3=from part of St. Landry Parish. |Data4=Acadian heroine of the poem "Evangeline" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow|Population=31745|Area=680}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Franklin |N=22 |Num=041 |Seat=Winnsboro |Data2=1843 |Data3=from parts of Carroll Parish, Catahoula Parish, Madison Parish and Ouachita Parish |Data4=Founding Father Benjamin Franklin|Population=19107|Area=636}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Grant |N=22 |Num=043 |Seat=Colfax |Data2=1869 |Data3=from parts of Rapides Parish and Winn Parish. |Data4=U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant|Population=22109|Area=664}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Iberia |N=22 |Num=045 |Seat=New Iberia |Data2=1868 |Data3=from parts of St. Martin Parish and St. Mary Parish. |Data4=Named by Spanish settlers in honor of the Iberian Peninsula|Population=67540|Area=1031}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Iberville |N=22 |Num=047 |Seat=Plaquemine |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, the brother of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville|Population=29766|Area=653}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Jackson |N=22 |Num=049 |Seat=Jonesboro |Data2=1845 |Data3=from parts of Claiborne Parish, Ouachita Parish and Union Parish |Data4=U.S. President Andrew Jackson|Population=14797|Area=580}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Jefferson |N=22 |Num=051 |Seat=Gretna |Data2=1825 |Data3=from part of Orleans Parish |Data4=Founding Father Thomas Jefferson|Population=427253|Area=642}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Jefferson Davis |N=22 |Num=053 |Seat=Jennings |Data2=1912 |Data3=from part of Calcasieu Parish. |Data4=Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America|Population=31436|Area=659}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Lafayette |N=22 |Num=055 |Seat=Lafayette |Data2=1823 |Data3=from part of St. Martin Parish. |Data4=French-born American Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette|Population=254241|Area=270}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Lafourche |N=22 |Num=057 |Seat=Thibodaux |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. Was named Interior Parish until 1812 and Lafourche Interior Parish until 1853. |Data4=French phrase la fourche or in English, the fork; Bayou Lafourche, or Fork Bayou, is a fork of the Mississippi River|Population=95342|Area=1472}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=LaSalle |N=22 |Num=059 |Seat=Jena |Data2=1910 |Data3=from west half of Catahoula Parish. |Data4=Explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle|Population=14702|Area=663}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Lincoln |N=22 |Num=061 |Seat=Ruston |Data2=1873 |Data3=from parts of Bienville Parish, Claiborne Parish, Jackson Parish and Union Parish. |Data4= U.S. President Abraham Lincoln|Population=48243|Area=472}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Livingston |N=22 |Num=063 |Seat=Livingston |Data2=1832 |Data3=from part of St. Helena Parish. |Data4=U.S. Secretary of State Edward Livingston, brother of Robert R. Livingston who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase|Population=152886|Area=703}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Madison |N=22 |Num=065 |Seat=Tallulah |Data2=1838 |Data3=from Concordia Parish. |Data4=U.S. President James Madison|Population=9093|Area=651}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Morehouse |N=22 |Num=067 |Seat=Bastrop |Data2=1844 |Data3=from parts of Carroll Parish and Ouachita Parish. |Data4=Abraham Morehouse, who led the first settlers into the region |Population=23787|Area=805}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Natchitoches |N=22 |Num=069 |Seat=Natchitoches |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=The Natchitoches Native American people|Population=35982|Area=1299}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Orleans |N=22 |Num=071 |Seat=New Orleans |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. Today coterminous with the City of New Orleans. |Data4=Named after Philippe, Duke of Orléans, the regent of France|Population=362701|Area=350}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Ouachita |N=22 |Num=073 |Seat=Monroe |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=The Ouachita Native American people

|Population=157874|Area=633}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Plaquemines |N=22 |Num=075 |Seat=Pointe à la Hache |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=A word meaning persimmons created from the Louisiana Creole and the Atakapa language|Population=22289|Area=2429}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Pointe Coupee |N=22 |Num=077 |Seat=New Roads |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=French phrase la pointe coupée or in English, the cut-off point, which refers to a bend in the Mississippi River |Population=19845|Area=591}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Rapides |N=22 |Num=079 |Seat=Alexandria |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Named for local river rapids (French: rapides)|Population=125899|Area=1362}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Red River |N=22 |Num=081 |Seat=Coushatta |Data2=1871 |Data3=from parts of Bienville Parish, Bossier Parish, Caddo Parish and Natchitoches Parish. |Data4=Named for the Red River, which is part of the Mississippi River watershed|Population=7238|Area=402}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Richland |N=22 |Num=083 |Seat=Rayville |Data2=1868 |Data3=from parts of Carroll Parish, Franklin Parish, Morehouse Parish and Ouachita Parish. |Data4=Named for its rich land|Population=19643|Area=564}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Sabine |N=22 |Num=085 |Seat=Many |Data2=1843 |Data3=from parts of Caddo Parish and Natchitoches Parish. |Data4=Named for the Sabine River and the so-called Sabine Free State|Population=21746|Area=1012}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. Bernard |N=22 |Num=087 |Seat=Chalmette |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Saint Bernard, patron saint of Bernardo de Gálvez, the Spanish governor who granted land to the Canary Islanders settling the area in 1778 |Population=44783|Area=1794}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. Charles |N=22 |Num=089 |Seat=Hahnville |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Saint Charles|Population=50400|Area=410}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. Helena |N=22 |Num=091 |Seat=Greensburg |Data2=1810 |Data3=from West Florida territory. |Data4=Saint Helena|Population=10857|Area=409}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. James |N=22 |Num=093 |Seat=Convent |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Saint James the Great|Population=19110|Area=258}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. John the Baptist |N=22 |Num=095 |Seat=Edgard |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Saint John the Baptist|Population=39694|Area=348}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. Landry |N=22 |Num=097 |Seat=Opelousas |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Saint Landry of Paris|Population=80869|Area=939}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. Martin |N=22 |Num=099 |Seat=St. Martinville |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. |Data4=Saint Martin of Tours|Population=51218|Area=817}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. Mary |N=22 |Num=101 |Seat=Franklin |Data2=1811 |Data3=from part of St. Martin Parish. |Data4=Saint Mary|Population=46799|Area=612}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=St. Tammany |N=22 |Num=103 |Seat=Covington |Data2=1810 |Data3=from West Florida territory. |Data4=Legendary Indian Chief Tamanend.|Population=277615|Area=1124}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Tangipahoa |N=22 |Num=105 |Seat=Amite City |Data2=1869 |Data3=from parts of Livingston Parish, St. Helena Parish, St. Tammany Parish and Washington Parish. |Data4=Comes from an Acolapissa word meaning ear of corn or those who gather corn|Population=139823|Area=823}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Tensas |N=22 |Num=107 |Seat=St. Joseph |Data2=1843 |Data3=from part of Concordia Parish. |Data4=The Taensa Native American people.

|Population=3844|Area=641}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Terrebonne |N=22 |Num=109 |Seat=Houma |Data2=1822 |Data3=from part of Lafourche Interior Parish. |Data4=French phrase terre bonne or in English, "good earth"|Population=103864|Area=2080}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Union |N=22 |Num=111 |Seat=Farmerville |Data2=1839 |Data3=from part of Ouachita Parish. |Data4=Named for the union of states which make up the U.S.|Population=20617|Area=905}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Vermilion |N=22 |Num=113 |Seat=Abbeville |Data2=1844 |Data3=from part of Lafayette Parish. |Data4=Both the Vermilion River and Vermilion Bay|Population=57641|Area=1538}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Vernon |N=22 |Num=115 |Seat=Leesville |Data2=1871 |Data3=from parts of Natchitoches Parish, Rapides Parish and Sabine Parish. |Data4=Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, the first U.S. President|Population=45819|Area=1341}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Washington |N=22 |Num=117 |Seat=Franklinton |Data2=1819 |Data3=from part of St. Tammany Parish. |Data4=U.S. President George Washington|Population=45090|Area=676}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Webster |N=22 |Num=119 |Seat=Minden |Data2=1871 |Data3=from parts of Bienville Parish, Bossier Parish and Claiborne Parish. |Data4=U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster|Population=35184|Area=615}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=West Baton Rouge |N=22 |Num=121 |Seat=Port Allen |Data2=1807 |Data3=One of the original 19 parishes. Was named Baton Rouge Parish until 1812. |Data4=French phrase bâton rouge meaning red stick. A red stick was used by local Native Americans to mark the boundaries between tribal territories|Population=28425|Area=203}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=West Carroll |N=22 |Num=123 |Seat=Oak Grove |Data2=1877 |Data3=when Carroll Parish was divided. |Data4=Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence|Population=9254|Area=360}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=West Feliciana |N=22 |Num=125 |Seat=St. Francisville |Data2=1824 |Data3=when Feliciana Parish was divided. |Data4=Felicite de Gálvez, the wife of Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish governor of Louisiana (New Spain)|Population=15155|Area=426}}

{{Countyrow| Type=Parish| Name=Winn |N=22 |Num=127 |Seat=Winnfield |Data2=1852 |Data3=from parts of Catahoula Parish, Natchitoches Parish and Rapides Parish. |Data4=Louisiana state legislator Walter Winn|Population=13405|Area=957}}

Former parishes

Attakapas Parish existed from 1807 to 1811.
Biloxi Parish formed in 1811 from West Florida territory. It was eliminated in 1812 when it was transferred to the Mississippi Territory.
Carroll Parish formed in 1838 from part of Ouachita Parish. In 1877, it was divided into East Carroll Parish and West Carroll Parish.
Feliciana Parish formed in 1810 from West Florida territory. In 1824, it was divided into East Feliciana Parish and West Feliciana Parish.
Pascagoula Parish formed in 1811 from West Florida territory. It was eliminated in 1812 when it was transferred to the Mississippi Territory.
Warren Parish formed in 1811 from part of Concordia Parish, and merged into Concordia Parish and Ouachita Parish in 1814.

Territorial counties

On April 10, 1805, the Territorial Council enacted a map dividing the territory into 12 counties based upon ecclesiastical districts established under Spanish rule. In 1807, the Territorial Council revised the 12-county system to create 19 civil parishes.{{Cite web |date=2009 |editor1-last=John H. |editor1-first=Long |editor2-last=Tuck Sinko |editor2-first=Peggy |title=Louisiana: Individual County Chronologies |url=https://digital.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/LA_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Atlas of Historical County Boundaries |publisher=The Newberry Library}}

The original twelve counties defined by the Territorial Legislative Council in 1805 were:

Acadia County – Parishes of St. James and the Ascension (also known as the First and Second Acadian Coasts). In 1807, divided into Ascension and St. James parishes.
Attakapas County – Parish of St. Martin. In 1807, renamed Attakapas Parish. In 1811, it was subdivided into St. Martin and St. Mary parishes.
Concordia County – The only portion not part of preexisting ecclesiastical district. In 1807, renamed Concordia Parish.
German Coast County – Parishes of St. Charles and St. John the Baptist (also known as the First and Second German Coasts). In 1807, divided into St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes.
Iberville County – Parish of St. Gabriel and part Parish of St. Bernard. In 1807, renamed Iberville Parish.
Lafourche County – Parish of Assumption. In 1807, divided into Assumption and Lafourche Interior parishes.
Natchitoches County – Parish of St. Francis. In 1807, renamed Natchitoches Parish.
Opelousas County – Parish of St. Landry. In 1807, renamed St. Landry Parish.
Orleans County – All territory on both sides of the "Mississippi from the Balize to the beginning of the parishes of St. Bernard and St. Louis." In 1807, divided into Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parishes.
Ouachita County – The Ouachita settlements. In 1807, renamed Ouachita Parish.
Pointe Coupée County – The Parish of St. Francis. In 1807, divided into Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupée parishes.
Rapides County – The settlements of Rapides, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Bayou Boeuf, Bayou Robert, and other settlements in the region. In 1807, divided into Avoyelles and Rapides parishes.

On December 7, 1810, William C. C. Claiborne, governor of the Orleans Territory, annexed the short-lived Republic of West Florida to the United States and Louisiana as Feliciana County. On December 22, 1810, the county west of the Pearl River was organized in four civil parishes: East Baton Rouge, Feliciana, St. Helena, and St. Tammany. Later, in 1824, Feliciana Parish was divided into East Feliciana and West Feliciana parishes.

Fictional parishes

In the novels Little Altars Everywhere, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and Ya-Yas in Bloom, author Rebecca Wells created the fictional Garnet Parish.
The movie Steel Magnolias was said to take place in the fictional Chinquapin Parish, likely a suburban parish of Shreveport. However, the movie was shot in Natchitoches, and involved several elements of culture indicative of the town and parish of the same name. For example, the annual Christmas Festival of Lights in Natchitoches is shown, as are Cajun dance styles with a distinctive country-Cajun band. (Natchitoches is in the Crossroads region of Louisiana, where southern Louisiana's predominantly Catholic, Cajun culture meets the primarily Protestant, Anglo culture of northern Louisiana.)
Part of Walter Jon Williams' novel The Rift is set in the fictional Spottswood Parish.
The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels written by Charlaine Harris and HBO's True Blood, which is based on the novels, take place in the fictional northwestern Louisiana Renard Parish.
In the movie In the Electric Mist, Deputy Jason J. Bayard was from the fictional St. Clare Parish.
In the DC Comics Universe, Belle Reve Parish is a parish in Louisiana that contains the Bell Reve Penitentiary.
In the movie The Green Mile, a fictional parish named Trapingus Parish is featured in the movie. The film was actually shot in Tennessee.
In the Cinemax TV series Banshee, Chayton Littlestone is seen fighting in the fictional Sang Tholis Parish, which is said to be in New Orleans. "Sang" is the French word for "blood", but could also be a dialect for "sans", without. "Tholis" is not a French word. In reality, the city of New Orleans is located entirely in Orleans Parish.
In the movie Doctor Detroit, protagonist Clifford Skridlow (played by Dan Aykroyd) appears in a Detroit court as a stereotypical (based on "Atticus Finch" in To Kill a Mockingbird) Southern attorney from Bay Saint Louis Parish.
In the 2017 video game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the vast majority of the game takes place in the fictional Dulvey Parish, somewhere on the coast.
The "Faster, Baby!" DLC for Mafia III, also a 2017 video game, takes place in Sinclair Parish just west of the fictional city of 'New Bordeaux', a fictional version of New Orleans set in 1968.
In the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die, Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) of Pontrain Parish is featured as a supporting character. The parish name is likely derived from the real Lake Pontchartrain.
In Season 2 of Designated Survivor a flu outbreak originates in South Carroll Parish.
The television series Queen Sugar is set in St. Josephine Parish, which borders Orleans Parish and is where the titular family; the Bordelon's, reside.
The 2006 sequel movie Road House 2 is set in the coastal Tyree Parish.
The 2011 crime thriller film Catch .44 takes place in Civil Parish, with one of the antagonists stealing a parish sheriff deputy's uniform.
The 2013 action thriller Homefront takes place in the fictional Labranche Parish, possibly named after or inspired by the real LaBranche Plantation Dependency.
The 2014 supernatural horror film Jessabelle is set in the fictional Feliciana Parish, a genericised version of West Feliciana Parish.
In the DC Universe series Swamp Thing, the primary setting is Montrivelle Parish. The county seat of the parish is the also fictional city of Marais.
In the 1972 movie Buck and the Preacher starring Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee, the members of the rescued wagon train were former slaves from the fictional St. Ann Parish.

References

Louisiana

Category:Louisiana geography-related lists