Thibodaux (Louisiana)

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Thibodaux
Nickname : Queen City of Lafourche
School bus in Thibodaux
School bus in Thibodaux
Location in Louisiana
Thibodaux (Louisiana)
Thibodaux
Thibodaux
Basic data
Foundation : 1838
State : United States
State : Louisiana
Parish : Lafourche Parish
Coordinates : 29 ° 48 ′  N , 90 ° 49 ′  W Coordinates: 29 ° 48 ′  N , 90 ° 49 ′  W
Time zone : Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 )
Residents : 14,566 (as of 2010)
Population density : 1,025.8 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 14.2 km 2  (approx. 5 mi 2 ) of
which 14.2 km 2  (approx. 5 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 4 m
Postcodes : 70301, 70302, 70310
Area code : +1 985
FIPS : 22-75425
GNIS ID : 1630018
Website : ci.thibodaux.la.us
Mayor : Tommy Eschete
The Lafourche Parish, Thibodaux in the northwest

Thibodaux ( ˈtɪbədoʊ ) is a small town in the US state of Louisiana . It is the third and oldest city in Lafourche Parish as well as its administrative seat and is located around 120 km southwest of New Orleans . It lies in the area of ​​the foothills of the Mississippi Delta system known as Bayou Lafourche .

population

According to the 2010 census, the population was 14,566 and has only increased slightly compared to the 2000 census; 6,709 of these are male and 7,857 female.

Structure and administration

Thibodaux belongs to today's Houma - Bayou Cane - Thibodaux Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The current mayor, Tommy Eschete, replaced the longtime mayor, Charles Caillouet, at the end of 2010.

history

The original population, the Chitimacha , are members of a North American Indian tribe of the Macro- Algonquin language family and were once the most powerful tribe on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico west of present-day Florida .

The community originated in the 18th century and was named Thibodauxville in 1830 , named after the local plantation owner and interim governor of Louisiana, Henry S. Thibodaux . She received the 1838 city charter and was in Thibodeaux renamed. The current spelling Thibodaux was adopted in 1918.

Civil War

In October 1862, following Georgia's battle for Labadieville , Thibodaux was occupied by the Unification Army under Godfrey Weitzel , currently in East Louisiana under the command of General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks . Black and white people then fled to the cities. Under General Alfred Mouton , settlements, bridges, sugar cane plantations and deposits were burned. In the period that followed, the plantation owners found it difficult to conclude employment contracts with the black population.

Thibodaux massacre

A sugar cane workers' strike organized by the Knights of Labor culminated in the "Thibodaux Massacre" from November 1st to 4th, 1887, the second bloodiest labor dispute in US history. This strike fought for higher wages for 10,000 workers (only 1,000 of them were white), which meant that the sugar cane harvest, which is important for this region, was no longer guaranteed. The plantation owners were supported by outside organizations with the idea of ​​losing the whole harvest, which alarmed outsiders. The plantations in the parishes Terrebonne and Lafourche were included. At the request of the plantation owners, the governor called the militia . Efforts to end the strike resulted in the murder of a total of 30–35 African-American workers, mainly white paramilitary groups .

In 2008 the film The Man Who Came Back was made, which is based on the Thibodaux massacre.

Economy and Transport

The economy is represented by the local Chamber of Commerce, Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce.

Thibodaux is served by the Thibodaux Municipal Airport , located around four kilometers to the south .

Culture and sights

Courthouse of Lafourche Parish in Thibodaux

Culturally, Thibodaux belongs to the sphere of influence belonging to Acadiana with a high proportion of French-speaking residents.

Thibodaux is the seat of Nicholls State University .

The National Register of Historic Places listed 31 historic landmarks as of 2013.

The high proportion of Catholics in Louisiana is reflected in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux .

The catholic patron saints of Thibodaux are Saint Valérie, a former Christian martyr, and Saint Vitalis , † around the year 60 AD , her husband, was also a martyr. A life-size relic of Saint Valérie, believed to contain an arm bone, was brought to Thibodaux in 1868 and is on display in its shrine in the St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux. A smaller relic with a relic of St. Vitalis is exhibited near that of St. Valérie. St. Valérie is still commonly called today to protect Thibodaux from hurricanes, especially in 2008 to protect against Hurricane Ike .

The city has been immortalized in Hank Williams Jambalaya (On The Bayou) , the song Amos Moses by Jerry Reed , in Adalida by George Strait , in Dixie Beauxderaunt by Dan Baird , in I will Play for Gumbo by Jimmy Buffett and in Creole Woman by Toby Keith mentioned. Thibodaux is also the title of a song by jazz singer Marcia Ball .

Richard D'Alton Williams, a noted 19th-century Irish patriot, writer, and physicist, died of tuberculosis in Thibodaux in 1862 and was buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery. His headstone was erected later that year by Irish members of the 8th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment. A famous blues musician from Mississippi, Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones , was buried in Thibodaux, where he often played, and where his manager, Hosea Hill, lived.

sons and daughters of the town

Personalities with a great influence on the city

literature

Web links

Commons : Thibodaux (Louisiana)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thibodaux, city administration . Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  2. ^ Thibodaux city, Louisiana , data sheet with the results of the 2010 census at factfinder.census.gov . Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ Chamber of Commerce
  4. ^ University website . Retrieved December 17, 2010
  5. ↑ NRHC . Retrieved August 27, 2013 (English), look for Louisiana and Thibodaux.
  6. ^ Website of the diocese