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421 Highway 20 Schriever, Louisiana 70395 U.S.A.
Texas Office - 281-220-9167

THE AREA OF MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA HISTORY

East St. Mary Parish was formed from a portion of St. Martin Parish in 1811 where the Atchafalaya River meets the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The original settlers, at the end of the 18th century, were predominantly French and Acadian. By the, early 1800's, many people from Ireland, Germany, Holland, England, and "Anglo-America" found their way to St. Mary, at first to raise cattle and later to grow sugar cane on the vast fertile plantations.

The parish consists of 1,036 square miles; water area of 1421 square miles and land area of 615 square miles. Some of the finest antebelllum houses In the south are to befound in the parish of St. Mary. Alarge number of these landmarks can be seen along the Old Spanish Trail, the approximate route of today’ s old U. S.Highway 90, which spans the 46 mile length of the parish.

Early homes, churches, cemeteries, Civil War battle sites, Indian mounds and the Indian reservation are all mute reminders of St. Mary's heritage. Fabled bayous, majestic live oaks, spanish moss, cane fields and shrimp boats lend added charm to the scene.

Morgan City
Located on U. S. 90 between New Orleans and Lafayette, Morgan City sits on the banks of the great Atchafalaya River. Originally incorporated in l860 as Brasher in honor of the founding family who, in the 1850s, divided its sugar plantation into lots to form a townsite. In 1876, the community's name was changed to Morgan City in tribute to Charles Morgan, rail and steamship magnate who first dredged the Atchafalaya Bay Ship Channel to accommodate ocean-going vessels, and thus launched these Atchafalaya River communities on their route to success as port cities. The oil or more properly, the petroleum products industry is of extraordinary importance to the economies of the community, the state, and the nation. Local origins of the industry may be found in the discovery of oil on Belle Isle by A. F. Lucas in 1896. In 1914, oil wells were drilled on Avoca Island. Morgan City's "black gold rush" did not truly begin, however, until November 14, 1947, when a Kerr-McGee experimental offshore oil rig struck oil. This event marked the founding of the offshore oil industry, an industry vital to the security and well-being of the United States. At present, “offshore" drilling produces approximately sixteen percent of the free world’s total of oil and over six percent of the world's natural gas.

Morgan City combines many cultures and ideas to produce a special character all its own. A city which can, with accuracy, be pronounced a "sportsman's paradise," a center of commerce and industry, the home of numerous festivals and celebrations, and the possessor of a proud and impressive history. In short, Morgan City, in the past and in the present, has served as the queen of a grand and beautiful region of the South.

Berwick
The first settlement in the region, was founded by Thomas Berwick in 1797. It is located on the western shore of the Atchafalaya River. Industries other than oil exploration and production in the Berwick area include boat building, shrimping, fishing and fish processing.

Patterson
Founded in l849 as a lumber center. This colorfuI community is located on the lower Atchafalaya River. Bayou Vista is the area's newest community with an estimated population of over 7,500. Waterways accommodating Patterson have long figured in its progress. The red cypress industry, begun there in 1838, added significantly to the sugar cane agrarian economic base for more than a century.

Amelia
Located seven miles east of Morgan City on Bayou Boeuf is the town of Amelia, one of the older settlements. History shows this was a thriving settlement as early as 1843.

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