Mermentau, Louisiana
Encyclopedia
Mermentau is a village in Acadia Parish
, Louisiana
, United States. The population was 721 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Crowley
Micropolitan Statistical Area.
word mer, which means "sea."
The Mermentau area was once reputedly a refuge for smugglers. It was a crossing point for brave travelers on the Old Spanish Trail, but had such a bad reputation that until the Louisiana Purchase no one would go there to see how many people there were.
John Landreth was a surveyor who was sent from Washington D.C. in 1818 to look for timber in Acadiana that could be harvested for the use of building Navy ships. He kept a journal and had this to say:
"...these places, particularly the Mermentau and Calcasieu are the harbours and Dens of the most abandoned wretches of the human race... smugglers and Pirates who go about the coast of the Gulph (sic) of vessels of a small draught of water and rob and plunder without distinction every vessel of every nation they meet and are able to conquer and put to death every soul they find on board without respect of persons age or sex and then their unlawful plunder they carry all through the country and sell at a very low rate and find plenty of purchasers."
and the years immediately after it there were widespread reports of bushwhackers, robbers, and other fugitives hiding in the Mermentau woods and tales of hidden treasures in the area. According to one of the stories, a man named Frank Quebedeaux once found an iron pot filled with coins. The cache had been hidden between four copal trees that had grown close together.
One of the earliest known settlers was John Webb, an English
seaman who came in 1827. It is said that Webb was a member of the crew of Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship at the famous Battle of Trafalgar
(Oct. l, 1805) in which the British defeated French and Spanish fleets but during which Nelson was killed. Webb lived in an area that came to be known as Webb's Cove, near the junction of the Mermentau River and Bayou Queue de Tortue
. Cornelius Duson McNaughton who was running from the law in Quebec
joined Webb there about 1837.
Jean Castex, a native of France came to Mermentau around 1856. He opened a mercantile business in 1859 and later became one of Acadia Parish's leading merchants. He was also a cotton and rice farmer and built what may have been the first cotton gin in the parish in 1860. A sawmill was also built at the town about that time. The Mermentau post office was established on September 2, 1859.
Victorin Maignaud, another native of France, came to Mermentau in 1866 and opened a dry goods store. Maignaud operated the river ferry for some 40 years, was postmaster for 17 years, and eventually owned a store, hotel, sawmill, and rice mill.
Timber from the Mermentau area provided much of the building material and fencing used by the prairie settlers. The lumber was hauled by oxcart to places as far away as Opelousas.
On May 18, 1872, the Opelousas Courier reported:
"For the last two weeks the streets of our town have been almost daily crowded with carts and wagons loaded with pieux, boards, and shingles coming from Pointe-aux-Loups and Mermento (sic). Never has there been such a crowd at one time, and so successively we counted eleven ox-wagons in one expedition in one day this week. Eight feet pieux are worth $12 per 100; six feet pieux, $6, and shingles, $6 per 1,000."
Jesuit priests from Grand Coteau began to visit Mermentau in the 1860s. In 1871 , Father Joseph Anthonioz had begun to gather lumber to build a chapel there, but it was never finished. The first church was built in 1882, next to the Maignaud Cemetery on Hwy. 90. It burned down in 1886.
In 1891, a temporary chapel was built at another location. Property for the church in its present location was donated in 1889 by Jean Castex and Mrs. Marie U. Duhon, widow of Aurelien Duhon. A larger church was built there, but in August 1900 it was blown off its foundation by a storm and damaged beyond use. It was finally rebuilt in 1908.
and Mermentau. Some 150 convicts were at work on the stretch near Bayou Blanc. By the end of July the road was completed from Mermentau westward to the Texas
line.
By the end of August 1880, the railroad line from New Orleans to Houston was open for freight business. Passenger trains with sleepers attached were running a regular schedule from New Orleans to Houston by the end of September.
The trains, however, did not solve all transportation problems for the area. Produce, lumber. and cattle had to be transported to the rail line. Capt. George W. Caldwell began carrying freight on the Mermentau about 1890, eventually owning a fleet of small boats and 24 barges. The barges hauled rice, oil, cattle, cotton, wood, and general freight. Capt Caldwell also operated a commissary on the river front and issued metal tokens in denominations of 5,10, 25 and 50 cents and $1. These became known as "Mermentau Money."
During the 1890s, the 96-ton Olive operated as a popular passenger and freight hauler on the Mermentau River, making round trips every other day from Mermentau to Lake Arthur
. People from Crowley, Louisiana
and elsewhere would take the train to Mermentau, then board the Olive for a weekend trip to Lake Arthur. The boat was described as "a splendid sternwheel packet." The Louisiana Press Association members and their wives, meeting in Crowley in 1894, were entertained on one such excursion. Fares were 50 cents one-way or 75 cents for a round-trip ticket. \
Mermentau achieved legal village status on November 11, 1899.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 2.3 square miles (6.0 km²). 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (7.39%) is water.
Situated along the Mermentau River
, Mermentau supplies freshwater for the Mermentau Basin. The basin contains about 450000 acres (1,821.1 km²) of wetlands, consisting of 190000 acres (768.9 km²) of fresh marsh, 135000 acres (546 km²) of intermediate marsh, and 101000 acres (409 km²) of brackish marsh. A total of 104380 acres (422 km²) of marsh has converted to open water since 1932, a loss of 19 percent of the historical wetlands in the basin.
of 2000, there were 721 people, 277 households, and 204 families residing in the village. The population density
was 337.9 inhabitants per square mile (130.7/km²). There were 344 housing units at an average density of 161.2 per square mile (62.4/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 85.99% White, 12.48% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.42% from other races
, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.08% of the population.
There were 277 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples
living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the village, the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $26,786, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $32,917 versus $13,977 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $11,408. About 25.0% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 39.3% of those age 65 or over.
Acadia Parish, Louisiana
Acadia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Crowley. According to the 2010 census, the population of Acadia Parish is 61,773. The parish was founded from parts of St...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, United States. The population was 721 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Crowley
Crowley, Louisiana
Crowley is a city in and the parish seat of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 14,225 at the 2000 census. The city is noted for its annual International Rice Festival. Crowley has the nickname of "Rice Capital of America", because at one time it was a major center for...
Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
In the last quarter of the 18th century, there was an Attakapas chief Nementou. On April 16, 1784, he sold land on Bayou Plaqumine Brûlée to Antoin Blanc for $100. Nementou is later mentioned as chief of a village on a river with the same name. Eventually, through a clerical error, Nementou became Mementou and this was then corrupted into Mermentau through confusion with the FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
word mer, which means "sea."
The Mermentau area was once reputedly a refuge for smugglers. It was a crossing point for brave travelers on the Old Spanish Trail, but had such a bad reputation that until the Louisiana Purchase no one would go there to see how many people there were.
John Landreth was a surveyor who was sent from Washington D.C. in 1818 to look for timber in Acadiana that could be harvested for the use of building Navy ships. He kept a journal and had this to say:
"...these places, particularly the Mermentau and Calcasieu are the harbours and Dens of the most abandoned wretches of the human race... smugglers and Pirates who go about the coast of the Gulph (sic) of vessels of a small draught of water and rob and plunder without distinction every vessel of every nation they meet and are able to conquer and put to death every soul they find on board without respect of persons age or sex and then their unlawful plunder they carry all through the country and sell at a very low rate and find plenty of purchasers."
Early Settlement
During the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and the years immediately after it there were widespread reports of bushwhackers, robbers, and other fugitives hiding in the Mermentau woods and tales of hidden treasures in the area. According to one of the stories, a man named Frank Quebedeaux once found an iron pot filled with coins. The cache had been hidden between four copal trees that had grown close together.
One of the earliest known settlers was John Webb, an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
seaman who came in 1827. It is said that Webb was a member of the crew of Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship at the famous Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
(Oct. l, 1805) in which the British defeated French and Spanish fleets but during which Nelson was killed. Webb lived in an area that came to be known as Webb's Cove, near the junction of the Mermentau River and Bayou Queue de Tortue
Bayou Queue de Tortue
Bayou Queue de Tortue is a waterway in the Mermentau River basin of southern Louisiana in the United States. The bayou is long and is partly navigable....
. Cornelius Duson McNaughton who was running from the law in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
joined Webb there about 1837.
Jean Castex, a native of France came to Mermentau around 1856. He opened a mercantile business in 1859 and later became one of Acadia Parish's leading merchants. He was also a cotton and rice farmer and built what may have been the first cotton gin in the parish in 1860. A sawmill was also built at the town about that time. The Mermentau post office was established on September 2, 1859.
Victorin Maignaud, another native of France, came to Mermentau in 1866 and opened a dry goods store. Maignaud operated the river ferry for some 40 years, was postmaster for 17 years, and eventually owned a store, hotel, sawmill, and rice mill.
Timber from the Mermentau area provided much of the building material and fencing used by the prairie settlers. The lumber was hauled by oxcart to places as far away as Opelousas.
On May 18, 1872, the Opelousas Courier reported:
"For the last two weeks the streets of our town have been almost daily crowded with carts and wagons loaded with pieux, boards, and shingles coming from Pointe-aux-Loups and Mermento (sic). Never has there been such a crowd at one time, and so successively we counted eleven ox-wagons in one expedition in one day this week. Eight feet pieux are worth $12 per 100; six feet pieux, $6, and shingles, $6 per 1,000."
Jesuit priests from Grand Coteau began to visit Mermentau in the 1860s. In 1871 , Father Joseph Anthonioz had begun to gather lumber to build a chapel there, but it was never finished. The first church was built in 1882, next to the Maignaud Cemetery on Hwy. 90. It burned down in 1886.
In 1891, a temporary chapel was built at another location. Property for the church in its present location was donated in 1889 by Jean Castex and Mrs. Marie U. Duhon, widow of Aurelien Duhon. A larger church was built there, but in August 1900 it was blown off its foundation by a storm and damaged beyond use. It was finally rebuilt in 1908.
Later Years
The Louisiana Western Railroad reached Mermentau in 1880. In February of that year only four miles of roadbed remained to be graded between Lafayette, LouisianaLafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
and Mermentau. Some 150 convicts were at work on the stretch near Bayou Blanc. By the end of July the road was completed from Mermentau westward to the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
line.
By the end of August 1880, the railroad line from New Orleans to Houston was open for freight business. Passenger trains with sleepers attached were running a regular schedule from New Orleans to Houston by the end of September.
The trains, however, did not solve all transportation problems for the area. Produce, lumber. and cattle had to be transported to the rail line. Capt. George W. Caldwell began carrying freight on the Mermentau about 1890, eventually owning a fleet of small boats and 24 barges. The barges hauled rice, oil, cattle, cotton, wood, and general freight. Capt Caldwell also operated a commissary on the river front and issued metal tokens in denominations of 5,10, 25 and 50 cents and $1. These became known as "Mermentau Money."
During the 1890s, the 96-ton Olive operated as a popular passenger and freight hauler on the Mermentau River, making round trips every other day from Mermentau to Lake Arthur
Lake Arthur, Louisiana
Lake Arthur is a town in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,007 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jennings Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. People from Crowley, Louisiana
Crowley, Louisiana
Crowley is a city in and the parish seat of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 14,225 at the 2000 census. The city is noted for its annual International Rice Festival. Crowley has the nickname of "Rice Capital of America", because at one time it was a major center for...
and elsewhere would take the train to Mermentau, then board the Olive for a weekend trip to Lake Arthur. The boat was described as "a splendid sternwheel packet." The Louisiana Press Association members and their wives, meeting in Crowley in 1894, were entertained on one such excursion. Fares were 50 cents one-way or 75 cents for a round-trip ticket. \
Mermentau achieved legal village status on November 11, 1899.
Today
Today, Arrowpoints can be found here and there at the places where the Attakapas Indians once lived. Mermentau is especially known for where Captain James Campbell, pirate Jean Laffite's most trusted lieutenant, stashed $9000 in gold coins.Geography
Mermentau is located at 30°11′16"N 92°34′58"W (30.187845, -92.582786).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 2.3 square miles (6.0 km²). 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (7.39%) is water.
Situated along the Mermentau River
Mermentau River
The Mermentau River is a river in southern Louisiana in the United States. It enters the Gulf of Mexico between Calcasieu Lake and Vermilion Bay on the Chenier Coastal Plain.The Mermentau River supplies freshwater for the Mermentau Basin...
, Mermentau supplies freshwater for the Mermentau Basin. The basin contains about 450000 acres (1,821.1 km²) of wetlands, consisting of 190000 acres (768.9 km²) of fresh marsh, 135000 acres (546 km²) of intermediate marsh, and 101000 acres (409 km²) of brackish marsh. A total of 104380 acres (422 km²) of marsh has converted to open water since 1932, a loss of 19 percent of the historical wetlands in the basin.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 721 people, 277 households, and 204 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 337.9 inhabitants per square mile (130.7/km²). There were 344 housing units at an average density of 161.2 per square mile (62.4/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 85.99% White, 12.48% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.42% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.08% of the population.
There were 277 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the village, the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $26,786, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $32,917 versus $13,977 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $11,408. About 25.0% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 39.3% of those age 65 or over.