History

The land mass now designated as Ascension Parish was originally a minute portion of the vast territory owned by France. On April 30, 1803, the United States Congress agreed to pay approximately 15 million dollars to France for this territory known as the Louisiana Purchase. The land mass was then subdivided by the U.S. Congress in 1804 into small territories with the present State of Louisiana declared as the Territory of Orleans.

Each territory was then districted into counties and the present Parish of Ascension was within Acadia County. In 1812, Louisiana became the eighteenth state. A new Louisiana State Constitution was adopted in 1845 which changed the designation of counties to parishes. From the former Acadia County, the Parishes of Ascension and St. James were created.

Early inhabitants of the Gonzales area were, for the most part, squatters of Spanish and French ancestry, settling amidst the Houma Indians. They were linked to other settlements by footpaths and waterways. The area was basically an agricultural community. By 1851, the confines of this new little settlement had only about ten residents. A small school was established by Adlard Gautreaux in 1855 to educate the children. Homesteading was granted to these early settlers in the mid 1880's with tracts of land ranging from forty to one hundred sixty acres in size.

During the year of 1886, the growing settlement chose to elect "Big" Joseph Gonzales as sheriff.

In 1887, Joseph's son, "Tee-Joe", opened a general store and post office in the small community. Years later, the Railroad Commission ordered the local railroad, the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company, to change its name from Edenborn to the name of the settlement's post office. As a result the village became known as Gonzales.

Because of the arrival of the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company, the once isolated community began to grow. The Village was laid off and subdivided by Joseph Gonzales, in 1906. And , it was officially incorporated and declared a village by proclamation of Governor John M. Parker, on April 12, 1922. Joseph Gonzales served as the first mayor of Gonzales. On May 4,1952, the village became known as the "Town" of Gonzales by proclamation of Governor Earl K. Long.

The leap to a thriving town was made possible by Huey Long with the construction of Airline Highway through the city limits. During the 1950s a major transition occurred to the town as industrial plant began to locate in the area along the Mississippi River; creation revolutionary growth. These industrial corporations induced hundreds of new residents to the town and the population soared rapidly.

In March 1977 the State of Louisiana granted Gonzales a change of status from "town" to "incorporated city". And on August 17, 1977 Governor Edwin Edwards officially proclaimed and designated the newly established "CITY OF GONZALES"!

Rich in history and tradition, diverse in its ethnic background, the dynamic Gonzales area of Ascension Parish is both interesting and exciting. The lifestyle, food and music contains such a lively mixture of native American, French, Spanish, African, Acadian, German and Italian influences as to be totally unique.Today, Gonzales serves as the financial, commercial, industrial, social and political center of the eastern portion of Ascension parish.