The name
"Plaquemines," in
Louisiana Creole, was derived from the
Atakapa word
piakimin, meaning the local fruit
persimmon. The French used it to name a military post they built on the banks of the
Mississippi River, as the site was surrounded by numerous persimmon trees. Eventually the name was applied to the entire parish and to a nearby
bayou. The oldest European settlement in the parish was
La Balize, where the French built and inhabited a crude fort by 1699 near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The name in French meant "seamark", a tall structure of wood built as a guide for ships. By 1721 the French built one high. A surviving map from about 1720 shows the island and fort, and the mouth of the river. As traffic and trade on the river increased, so did the importance of river pilots who were knowledgeable about the complicated, ever-changing currents and sandbars in the river. They lived at La Balize with their families. The village was destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, but it was abandoned for good after being destroyed by a September 1860 hurricane. The pilots moved upriver and built the settlement they named
Pilottown, which reached its peak of population in the 19th century. The river pilots' expertise continues to be critical, but now they generally live with their families in more populated areas. They stay at Pilottown temporarily for work. An important historical site is
Fort Jackson, built in 1822 as recommended by General
Andrew Jackson, hero of the
Battle of New Orleans in the
War of 1812. In 1861, Fort Jackson served as an important
Confederate defense for the city of New Orleans during the
Civil War because it was at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The US Army used it as a training base during
World War I, 1917–1918. Plaquemines is one of only two parishes that have kept their same boundaries from the beginning of Louisiana's parishes in 1807 to today, the other being
St. Bernard Parish.
20th century to present Because Plaquemines Parish encompasses the last of the Mississippi River before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, it is the site of several oil refineries, which rely on the shipping lanes for moving their product. The
Mississippi River Delta of Plaquemines is also a base for assistance to offshore oil rigs. Plaquemines Parish was the first place in the United States where shippers used a
container for cargo in foreign trade. The area is also known for having the southernmost point in Louisiana, at just under 29 degrees north. In the early 1900s, Plaquemines was an exporter of citrus. Farmers used the railroads and the Mississippi to ship the large annual harvest to markets. Commercial fisheries, especially for oysters, have been important in the parish economy. From 1924 to 1969, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes were effectively the domain of the Democratic
political boss Leander Perez, who established a strong hold over the area. He was notorious for fixing elections and enforcing strict
racial segregation. Upon his death, his sons Leander Perez Jr., and Chalin O. Perez were elected as the dominant political figures of the parish as district attorney and parish president, respectively. Interpersonal feuding weakened the family's hold on power. After another decade, by 1980 political opponents had begun to win local elections. The organization filed
class-action suits against Leander Perez and in 1953, several African-Americans became registered voters in Plaquemines Parish. In 1966, the organization led the fight to integrate public schools. The movement also worked to get Seymourville and another small community included within the parish boundaries; the city had sought to exclude these majority-black communities to prevent black votes from being counted. The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended legal segregation, and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 authorized federal oversight and enforcement of voter registration and elections in jurisdictions with historic under-representation of minority elements of the population. After 1965, African Americans in Louisiana began full participation in Louisiana politics.
Hurricanes and flooding Plaquemines Parish has repeatedly been hit by flooding. The
August 1901 Hurricane caused damage, including 4 feet of water in
Buras. The
Great Hurricane of 1915 devastated much of the parish, with multiple
levee breaches on both sides of the Mississippi, a 12-foot
storm surge, and hundreds of deaths. Homelessness was widespread, and many people were reduced to starvation until charitable aid arrived. The old Parish Courthouse in Pointe à la Hache was among the many buildings destroyed in the storm, but a new one was completed within the year. During the
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, city and state leaders used
dynamite to breach a
levee at
Caernarvon, below Canal Street, in order to save the city of
New Orleans from flooding. This action resulted in the flooding of much of the less populated St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, causing widespread destruction to agriculture and housing. In 1965,
Hurricane Betsy flooded many buildings, including the parish courthouse, and caused nine deaths. Leander Perez sealed off the parish to control the distribution of state assistance. Again in 1969,
Hurricane Camille devastated portions of Plaquemines Parish. Storm surge over 10 feet, winds over 100 miles per hour, and peak pressure at 941 hPa devastated
Buras, Louisiana,
Venice, Louisiana, and many more towns and cities.
Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana on August 29, 2005, resulting in one of the worst disasters in United States history; it severely damaged all of southeast Louisiana.
Martial law was not declared in Plaquemines, contrary to many media reports, as no such term exists in Louisiana state law. Plaquemines was the place where the hurricane made landfall at 6.10 a.m. No place escaped without some damage, while most of Plaquemines,
Orleans, and neighboring
St. Bernard parishes was severely affected. The towns of
Pointe à la Hache,
Port Sulphur,
Buras,
Triumph,
Empire,
Boothville, Phoenix, and
Venice suffered catastrophic damage. Amid heavy rains accompanied by hurricane-force winds in excess of at initial landfall (with a Category 5 storm surge), the
levees failed and broke. The
storm surge which flowed in was more than high. Although a majority of the populace had complied with mandatory state evacuation orders, some did not, possibly because they were not able to. At least three people died. It is estimated that without significant human intervention, Plaquemines Parish will lose 55% of its current land to rising sea levels over the next 50 years. ==Geography==