History LaPlace, Louisiana

1 history

1.1 pre-european
1.2 european colonization
1.3 1811 slave revolt
1.4 weather events
1.5 spelling
1.6 andouille

history
pre-european

the chitimacha lived in region prior arrival of european colonists. tribe’s lands once encompassed entire atchafalaya basin, westward lafayette, louisiana, southward gulf of mexico , eastward new orleans area. chitimacha tribe resides on reservation in st. mary parish, louisiana.

european colonization

present-day laplace settled german immigrants in 18th century during louisiana s french colonial period, part of larger settlement on bank of mississippi called karlstein. karlstein 1 of 4 settlements collectively known german coast (french: la côte des allemands ), having been populated german-speaking immigrants since 1721. french , acadians intermarried germans, , area came known bonnet carré (english: square bonnet ). name bonnet carré inspired right-angle turn of mississippi river near settlement , resemblance square bonnet.

in 1879, pharmacist, planter, , patent medicine purveyor basile laplace arrived new orleans established large plantation in bonnet carré, , in 1883 allowed new orleans , baton rouge railroad right cut through land. settlement s railroad depot named after laplace, post office, , town itself.

1811 slave revolt

in january 1811, german coast uprising organized @ woodland plantation in laplace. group of 200-500 slaves armed guns, axes, , cane knives set out laplace conquer new orleans , gain freedom , others. rebellion ruthlessly put down local white militia men within 3 days, , many of rebel leaders , others executed.

the german coast uprising considered largest single slave rebellion in u.s. history, although more slaves may have participated in black seminole rebellion in 1836 , whole of second seminole war.

weather events

in period between 1850 , 1883, levee on east bank of mississippi flooded several times. in 1850, flood created bonnet carré crevasse, levee breach more mile wide. several major floods exacerbated crevasse near laplace , 1 resulted in severe flooding of new orleans in 1871. breach closed in 1883.

in 2012, 5,000 houses damaged flooding in laplace during hurricane isaac.

in february 2016 , again in march 2016, several tornadoes made landfall in laplace, damaging hundreds of buildings , disrupting power.

spelling

despite spelling used laplace s namesake, st. john baptist parish police jury decreed in 1971 official spelling of town includes capital letter p .

andouille

andouille, smoked pork sausage originated in france, popular in laplace , elsewhere in louisiana, in 1970s then-governor edwin edwards proclaimed laplace official andouille capital of world . since 1972, laplace has held andouille festival every october. on program feasting on asphalt, tv chef alton brown visited laplace sample andouille.