St. Bernard Parish Net - An Online Guide To St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana

History

St. Bernard Parish is a product of sediments deposited by the Mississippi River in several delta-building phases. Approximately 4,000 years ago, the Mississippi River began forming a delta in the St.Bernard Parish area, through the Bayou La Loutre channel. A second phase of delta building occurred in the Bayou Terre Aux Boufs channel. It lasted approximately 500 years. A third phase began building land about 3,500 years ago through Bayou, les Families ending 1,500 years later. The last of the delta phases which built St, Bernard was Bayou Sauvage which continued until 700 years ago. The river gradually shifted its course and sediment distribution until it completely abandoned the St. Bernard area. Gradually the delta shifted to its Plaquemines-Modern delta complex of today. Some sedimentation continued to occur in the area due to periodic flooding of the river and its minor distributaries until settlement by man occurred in the area .

Man began to have his influence felt in the area in the eighteenth century. Early during this period, the French colonized part of the area confined to individual plantations along the natural levee bordering the river. After the transfer of the Louisiana territory from France to Spain , the Spanish began to colonize what is now lower St. Bernard parish. The Spanish, under Bernardo de Galvez, brought several hundred settlers from the Canary Islands . The center of the colony, on Bayou Terre Aux Boeufs was initially called New Galvez. The people of the colony changed its name to San Bernardo or Saint Bernard in honor of Galvez's name saint. At the same time, the Marigny de Mandeville was also bringing in colonists from the Canary Islands and settling them on his concession in St. Bernard. These settlers have come to be known as the Isleneos or Islanders. Additional settlement occurred later in this period when many French Acadian refugees settled in St. Bernard.

The area's soil, rich from many years of flooding, provided for excellent agricultural usage. The land produced as much as four crops per year. These crops included sugar cane, indigo and various vegetables. Throughout the later 1700's and into the early 1800's the area became more densely settled and the richness of the fertile land was utilized more extensively by farmers.

The most historic event in St. Bernard's history occurred in January of 1815 in the area known as the plain of Chalmette, where the Battle of New Orleans took place. The great battle ended the rivalry between the United States and Great Britain for control of the lower Mississippi valley. Led at the site by their general and later president, Andrew Jackson, the American forces which totaled 2,500 men, defeated a substantially larger British force which had secretly advanced through Lake Borgne and the bayous of St. Bernard.

The parish of St. Bernard was officially designated just eight years before the Battle of New Orleans in 1807. The boundaries of the parish changed on seven occasions from its inception until it assumed its current boundaries in 1842 (Burk and Associates, 1979).

The character as well as the population of St. Bernard changed very little until the 1940's. The 1940 census showed an increase in population of 11.870 over the 1930 total to 7,280 persons in what was to mark the beginning of the rural/suburban transition of the parish's character. Industrial development was coming to St. Bernard and with it a migration of people particularly from the city of New Orleans attracted to new jobs or to new subdivisions that were beginning to develop in St. Bernard Parish.

In 1950 this trend continued as St. Bernard's population grew to 11,807, a 52.370 increase over the previous census. By 1960 St. Bernard had grown to 32,186, a 190.370 increase over 1950, the largest percentage population increase in the parish's history. The trend continued in 1970 when the population grew to 51,185. This represented a 59.270 increase in population over 1960. Census figures for 1980 put the population of St. Bernard Parish at 64,097, a 25.2% increase over the previous decade. Between 1980 and 2000 St. Bernard's population grew very little to only 67,229 largely due to a stagnant regional economy suffering form the loss of many jobs due to the down-sizing of the oil and gas industry in the region. Locally the closure of the Kaiser Aluminum Chalmette Works and the loss of over 2,000 high paying industrial jobs had a significant effect on the parish's population and economic growth trends.

Historically, the economy of St. Bernard has been tied to the land and its unique environment until the mid-twentieth century. The plantations and farms that were developed along the rich soils that lined the banks of the Mississippi provided economic benefits to the parish's residents during the pre-Industrial period.

St. Bernard's wetlands provided extensive economic benefits through the fishing and trapping industries which thrived in the area. The wetlands also provided timber to the area due to the abundance of cypress trees found there. These trees were harvested and used in the construction of many houses in the New Orleans area in the 1800s and early 1900's.

Since the 1940's, urbanization and industrialization have altered the area and its economy. The wetland areas have been altered by the activities of man which have resulted in the destruction of fresh water marshes which has impaired the production of fur-bearing animals. The construction of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), an alternative access to the Port of New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico, in the late 1950's, has resulted in significant land loss in St. Bernard Parish due to resulting salt water intrusion. Many former farmlands have become subdivision developments of tract homes. Despite these changes, the environment continued to provides economic benefits. The seafood industry provided all or part of the economic livelihood for many St. Bernardians in the lower portion of the parish.

The industrialization and urbanization began in earnest in St. Bernard in the 1940's and 1950's. Industrial development was along St. Bernard's portion of the east bank of the Mississippi where the American Sugar Refinery, Kaiser Aluminum's Chalmette Works and the Tenneco Oil Refinery (now Exxon/Mobil) were developed on the riverfront from the Orleans parish line in Arabi to Chalmette . Other industrial developments in the area included the Murphy Oil Refinery, natural gas processing plants and ship building in the area between Meraux and Yscloskey.

The industrial developments, as well as the flight to suburbia by those who found St. Bernard an attractive alternative to life in the city, resulted in tremendous growth and expansion of the economic base of the parish. The population increase brought with it the development of the wholesale, retail and service sectors of the economy which were necessitated by the expansion. By the 1970's portions of St. Bernard had transformed from a sleepy, rural area to an urban area similar in character and appearance to the rest of New Orleans suburban areas. But because of its heritage and continuing ties to it's roots and traditions St. Bernard maintained it's sense community and maintains it's small town charm on the edge of the city.

All that changed on August, 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina pushed the marsh and the Gulf of Mexico in like a funnel through the Mississippi Gulf Outlet drowning every structure in St. Bernard in up to twelve feet of marsh muck that did not recede for up to over two weeks. It left a community of 67,000 people in over 27,000 households an empty shell in what used to be weeks before a vibrant productive community. Although many of it's citizens are gallantly attempting to repopulate the area the population remains well below its pre-storm population.