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February 11, 1825 - Jefferson Parish is Established Jefferson Parish, Louisiana was established in 1825 and was
named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, commemorating his role in purchasing the Louisiana territory from France in 1803. The
Parish originally extended from present day Felicity Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the St. Charles Parish line. As
Orleans Parish grew, it annexed from Jefferson Parish such established areas as the Garden District, Lafayette, Jefferson,
and Carrollton. The present boundary was set in 1874, and in 1884 the seat of Parish government was transferred to the West
Bank, Gretna, where it has remained.
Once a largely rural area of farms, dairies and vast tracts of undeveloped land,
Jefferson Parish today is New Orleans' first suburb - a bedroom community west of the city that received the first great migration
of middle-class families from the 1950's to the 1970's.
Pictured is a map from the 1895 World Atlas
Sources:
http://www.livgenmi.com/jeffersonLA.htm & http://www.jeffparish.net/index.cfm?DocID=1371
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