Spaniards were the first Europeans to see the land that would become St. Charles Parish in 1542
But a French expedition was the first to actually get off their boat and set foot on the land 140 years later – in 1682.
And did you know that before Hahnville was Hahnville, it was an Indian village inhabited by the Quinipissa tribe?
That’s just a sample of the fascinating historical trivia we found while boning up on the parish in preparation for its 200th Bicentennial Birthday, which will be celebrated throughout 2007. Here’s more:
1. 10,000 Germans embarked on the trip to Louisiana and St. Charles in 18th century, but fewer than 2,000 survived.
2. The census of 1724 discloses that there were two German villages with the first being established in 1721.
3. Major battles between the Germans and the Indians started to erupt in 1748.
4. In 1766, French Acadians who had been run out of Nova Scotia began settling on the German Coast.
5. In 1765, Spain’s Don Antonio de Ulloa was appointed to take control of Louisiana for the country.
6. The German Coast was also called the “Golden Coast” because its agricultural produce fed New Orleans through famine periods.
7. In 1804 the United States bought Louisiana and divided it into 19 parishes, St. Charles being one.
8. The second courthouse for the parish was constructed in Hahnville in 1852. The first was built in 1826.
9. In 1810 the state legislature created the Sheriff’s Office and he also had to collect taxes.
10. St. Charles Parish never had cowboys, but as late as the 1870s there were regular gunfights, hangings and lynchings that rivaled those in the Wild West.
11. In 1884 the hottest club in the parish was the Hahnville Chess and Checker Club. Other recreation: swimming in the Mississippi River.
12. Public schools were established in 1879. Prior to that, if you didn’t have enough money to hire a tutor, your children were out of luck.
13. On Feb. 15, 1873 St. Charles Parish got its first newspaper – the Herald you’re holding in your hand.
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