Louisiana Parishes and Historical Facts

Louisiana Parish records vary widely from county to county in both quality and quantity. Some have been carefully preserved while others have been much abused and neglected. Some Louisiana records have simply disappeared.

For genealogists doing research in Louisiana there is no effective replace for an on-site search of parish courthouse records.

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Louisiana Map of Parishes
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Louisiana Map of Parishes

Louisiana Parish Records

Parish clerks hold the majority of these records, while some cities have these functions divided among register of conveyances and district court clerks.

The Louisiana Section of the State Library of Louisiana provided some of the information on parish formation.

Court records, marriage records, and other documents are recorded according to parish, not county, in Louisiana.

Probate and land records are also recorded that way. Parish clerks should be consulted for information concerning those records.

However, district court clerks and registers of conveyances also exist in some parishes. Their records should be consulted as well.

The FHL has many records on file for Louisiana. Those records were compiled by the Genealogical Society of Utah and may include the following record types: Court, Property, Notarial, Probate, Tax, Vital.

Information on the formation of parishes can be found at the State Library of Louisiana. The Parish Clerks of Court and State Office of Vital Records can provide copies of birth certificates.

However, access may be restricted unless relationship to the person of interest can be proven. See also a list of links to parish and parish seat government run websites.

List of Louisiana Extinct Parishes

Louisiana has parishes that no longer exist because they were discontinued, renamed or merged with another parish.

A lot of these counties were established and disbanded within the 19th century; parish borders have changed very little since 1900.

These are important for genealogy research purposes. Pay attention where the courthouse records went to if the parish was eliminated or joined with some other parish.

See the History of Louisiana Counties for more details.

List of Louisiana Counties with Burned Courthouses

Louisiana burned parish courthouse
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The damage to courthouses greatly has a bearing on genealogists in every way.

Not only are these historic structures torn from our lifetimes, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others.

Once destroyed they’re lost forever. Although they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn too.

However, not all records were damaged or lost in some counties.

  • Avoyelles Parish Courthouse – There was records destruction in 1856? from Unknown causes.
  • Bossier Parish Courthouse – In 1888, the courthouse at Bellevue was partly burned.
  • Calcasieu Parish Courthouse– Courthouse was destroyed by a disastrous fire on April 23, 1910, as well as most of downtown Lake Charles, and many of the records of the parish were burned or damaged.
  • Catahoula Parish Courthouse – There was a total records destruction in the early 1900’s due to unknown causes
  • Claiborne Parish Courthouse – The courthouse at Old Athens along with all parish records were destroyed by fire on November 6, 1849
  • Concordia Parish Courthouse – A tornado destroyed the courthouse around 1843 (most records were destroyed) and it was destroyed by flood in 1927.
  • Grant Parish Courthouse – The Courthouse had an unknown records loss in the 1880’s.
  • Jackson Parish Courthouse – A courthouse fire in Vernon, before the parish seat was moved to Jonesboro, destroyed most of the records prior to then. The first courthouse, built in Jonesboro in 1912, was almost completely destroyed by an explosion. Fortunately few, if any, of our records were destroyed.
  • Livingston Parish Courthouse – On October 15, 1875, the parish courthouse at Port Vincent burned, apparently destroying the official records which were maintained there.
  • Madison Parish Courthouse –
  • Morehouse Parish Courthouse – Had a Record Loss in 1870 due to unknown reasons.
  • Ouachita Parish Courthouse – In April of 1864, Yankee gunboats partially destroyed the second courthouse. In 1882 the third courthouse was destroyed by fire.
  • Plaquemines Parish Courthouse – Courthouse destroyed by a fire in 2001.
  • Rapides Parish Courthouse – 1864?
  • Vermillion Parish Courthouse – The Courthouse suffered a total records Loss in around 1885.
  • Washington Parish Courthouse – The courthouse burned twice, first in 1854, then again in 1897. The fires resulted in a loss of nearly 68 years worth of records.  Records from the 1820-1830 decade were kept on file in the state land office and escaped the fire.  Some of the records from the second fire were salvaged and others were brought in to be re-recorded.  So, only the records from the 1840-1860 period are completely lost.
  • West Feliciana Parish Courthouse –
  • Winn Parish Courthouse – 1886?

List of Louisiana Parishes

List of Louisiana Parishes

ParishesDate FormedParent ParishesParishes Seat
Acadia1886from part of St. Landry Parish.Crowley
Allen1912from part of Calcasieu Parish.Oberlin
Ascension1807One of the original 19 parishes.Donaldsonville
Assumption1807One of the original 19 parishes.Napoleonville
Avoyelles1807One of the original 19 parishes.Marksville
Beauregard1912from part of Calcasieu Parish.DeRidder
Bienville1848from part of Claiborne Parish.Arcadia
Bossier1843from part Claiborne Parish.Benton
Caddo1838from part of Natchitoches Parish.Shreveport
Calcasieu1840from part of St. Landry Parish.Lake Charles
Caldwell1838from part of Catahoula Parish and Ouachita Parish.Columbia
Cameron1870from parts of Calcasieu Parish and Vermilion Parish.Cameron
Catahoula1808from parts of Ouachita Parish and Rapides Parish.Harrisonburg
Claiborne1828from part of Natchitoches Parish.Homer
Concordia1807One of the original 19 parishes.Vidalia
De Soto1843from parts of Caddo Parish and Natchitoches Parish.Mansfield
East Baton Rouge1810from West Florida territory.Baton Rouge
East Carroll1877when Carroll Parish was divided.Lake Providence
East Feliciana1824when Feliciana Parish was divided.Clinton
Evangeline1910from part of St. Landry Parish.Ville Platte
Franklin1843from parts of Carroll Parish, Catahoula Parish, Madison Parish and Ouachita ParishWinnsboro
Grant1869from parts of Rapides Parish and Winn Parish.Colfax
Iberia1868from parts of St. Martin Parish and St. Mary Parish.New Iberia
Iberville1807One of the original 19 parishes.Plaquemine
Jackson1845from parts of Claiborne Parish, Ouachita Parish and Union ParishJonesboro
Jefferson1825from part of Orleans ParishGretna
Jefferson Davis1912from part of Calcasieu Parish.Jennings
La Salle1908from part of Catahoula Parish.Jena
Lafayette1823from part of St. Martin Parish.Lafayette
Lafourche1807One of the original 19 parishes. Was named Interior Parish until 1812 and Lafourche Interior Parish until 1853.Thibodaux
Lincoln1873from parts of Bienville Parish, Claiborne Parish, Jackson Parish and Union Parish.Ruston
Livingston1832from part of St. Helena Parish.Livingston
Madison1838from Concordia Parish.Tallulah
Morehouse1844from parts of Carroll Parish and Ouachita Parish.Bastrop
Natchitoches1807One of the original 19 parishes.Natchitoches
Orleans1807One of the original 19 parishes. Today coterminous with the City of New Orleans.New Orleans
Ouachita1807One of the original 19 parishes.Monroe
Plaquemines1807One of the original 19 parishes.Pointe a la Hache
Pointe Coupee1807One of the original 19 parishes.New Roads
Rapides1807One of the original 19 parishes.Alexandria
Red River1871from parts of Bienville Parish, Bossier Parish, Caddo Parish and Natchitoches Parish.Coushatta
Richland1868from parts of Carroll Parish, Franklin Parish, Morehouse Parish and Ouachita Parish.Rayville
Sabine1843from parts of Caddo Parish and Natchitoches Parish.Many
St. Bernard1807One of the original 19 parishes.Chalmette
St. Charles1807One of the original 19 parishes.Hahnville
St. Helena1810from West Florida territory.Greensburg
St. James1807One of the original 19 parishes.Convent
St. John the Baptist1807One of the original 19 parishes.Edgard
St. Landry1807One of the original 19 parishes.Opelousas
St. Martin1807One of the original 19 parishes.Saint Martinville
St. Mary1811from part of St. Martin County.Franklin
St. Tammany1810from West Florida territory.Covington
Tangipahoa1868from parts of Livingston Parish, St. Helena Parish, St. Tammany Parish and Washington Parish.Amite
Tensas1843from part of Concordia Parish.Saint Joseph
Terrebonne1822from part of Lafourche Parish.Houma
Union1839from part of Ouachita Parish.Farmerville
Vermilion1844from part of Lafayette Parish.Abbeville
Vernon1871from parts of Natchitoches Parish, Rapides Parish and Sabine Parish.Leesville
Washington1819from part of St. Tammany Parish.Franklinton
Webster1871from parts of Bienville Parish, Bossier Parish and Claiborne Parish.Minden
West Baton Rouge1807One of the original 19 parishes. Was named Baton Rouge Parish until 1812.Port Allen
West Carroll1877when Carroll Parish was divided.Oak Grove
West Feliciana1824when Feliciana Parish was divided.Saint Francisville
Winn1852from parts of Catahoula Parish, Natchitoches Parish and Rapides Parish.Winnfield
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