Gonzales, Louisiana Gonzales, Louisiana Gonzales, Louisiana (3922 - 472222).jpg 2009 aerial photo of Gonzales Location of Gonzales in Louisiana Location of Louisiana in the United States Gonzales is a small town/city in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States.
As of the 2010 census, it had a populace of 9,781. Known as the "Jambalaya Capital of the World", it is famous for its annual Jambalaya Festival, which was first held in 1968.
Lambert of Ascension Parish practices law in Gonzales, as does State Senator Jody Amedee, who represents Ascension, Livingston, St.
Former Gonzales Mayor Johnny Berthelot, a Republican, holds the District 88 seat in the Louisiana House.
Edward Joseph Price, an black Democrat and a Gonzales businessman, has held the District 58 House seat for Ascension, Iberville, and St.
James churches since 2012. Another District 58 representative was Melvin Irvin, a black educator and businessman from Gonzales who held the seat from 1984 to 1992.
Gonzales is positioned at 30 13 38 N 90 55 11 W (30.227128, -90.919771). According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 8.5 square miles (22.0 km2), of which 8.4 square miles (21.7 km2) is territory and 0.12 square miles (0.3 km2), or 1.27%, is water. In the city, the populace was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older.
The current mayor of Gonzales is Barney Arceneaux.
Hurricanes also pose a threat to the region due to its adjacency to the coastline of southeast Louisiana.
Early pioneer of the region which would eventually turn into Gonzales were, for the most part, of Spanish and French ancestry, settling amidst the Houma Indians who lived in the area.
By 1886, the settlement had grown, and the people of the improve elected "Big" Jose Gonzales as their sheriff.
Joseph's son, "Tee-Joe" Gonzales, opened a general store and postal service in May 1887.
The postal service was known as the Gonzales Post Office.
A several years later the Railroad Commission ordered the small-town barns to change the name of the improve from Edenborn to Gonzales to match the postal service name.
The center of Gonzales, known as Chips Grocery, came into being in the late 1970s.
The barns assisted in the expansion of Gonzales.
When the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company (LR&N) constructed its rail line through the area, there was already a small-town postal service titled Gonzales.
After small-town inhabitants filed protests with the Louisiana Railroad Commission, the barns business was ordered to leave the station at Gonzales.
The inhabitants continued to protest, and were able to get the Louisiana Legislature to pass a law requiring barns companies to name their barns stations the same name as that carried by the small-town postal service.
Gonzales was laid out and subdivided 1906. It was officially incorporated as a village in 1922 by then Louisiana Governor John Parker with Joseph Gonzales becoming the first mayor.
Long proclaimed Gonzales a town in 1952 amid his term as governor.
Mc - Keithen marked the occasion by proclaiming Gonzales the "Jambalaya Capital of the World." Gonzales became better known in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck.
The HSUS and other animal rescue groups along with the National Guard made a fairground in Gonzales their chief search and rescue headquarters, as well as the locale of storing pets picked up from New Orleans and many other locations.
Gonzales is home to the 922nd Horizontal Engineer Company, which is part of the 769th Engineer Battalion headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Both these units belong to the 225th Engineer Brigade, which is positioned at Pineville, Louisiana on Camp Beauregard.
Gonzales has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International: a b "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Gonzales city, Louisiana".
"Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".
Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns ...
Gonzales Jambalaya Festival Municipalities and communities of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States This populated place also has portions in an adjoining church or churches
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