Louisiana Facts and Names of Places

The Louisiana State Seal

The seal lists the motto of the State: Union, Justice, and Confidence

What is the Meaning of the Pelican?

A mother pelican sits in her nest and protects her children. Maybe you learned in third grade and forgot what the symbol of the pelican is and why is it emblazoned on the seal. While it is true that the Brown Pelican is the state bird, the story has a deeper meaning. I posted on Facebook asking my friends what the pelican symbolizes and lo and behold Basil Burns, a Roman Catholic priest, explains: “The pelican was a symbol of Jesus at one time. It was once believed (mistakenly) that the pelican would pierce its breast and feed her young with her blood -- the parallel is obvious, of course. So it's very much about self-sacrifice! I wonder if we couldn't throw a crawfish in there somewhere, maybe, with a bunch of hungry humans gathered around it?” Yeah. That would be cool, Basil. Let's contact the U.S. mint and put a crawfish on the commemorative state quarter. So, next time you are in the great state of Louisiana, take a photograph of the pelicans that fly around Lake Pontchartrain - north of the city of New Orleans. They are visible in the early evening, right as the sun goes down and you can watch them nose dive into the lake searching for their prey.

Louisiana Parishes

Acadia	Claiborne	Jefferson Davis	Rapides	Tangipahoa
Allen	Concordia	Lafayette	Red River	Tensas
Ascension	De Soto	Lafourche	Richland	Terrebonne
Assumption	East Baton Rouge	La Salle	Sabine	Union
Avoyelles	East Carroll	Lincoln	St. Bernard	Vermilion
Beauregard	East Feliciana	Livingston	St. Charles	Vernon
Bienville	Evangeline	Madison	St. Helena	Washington
Bossier	Franklin	Morehouse	St. James	Webster
Caddo	Grant	Natchitoches	St. John the Baptist	West Baton Rouge
Caldwell	Iberia	Orleans	St. Landry	West Carroll
Cameron	Iberville	Ouachita	St. Martin	West Feliciana
Catahoula	Jackson	Plaquemines	St. Mary	Winn
	Jefferson	Pointe Coupee	St. Tammany

The following Louisiana places are in more than one county. Given here is the total population for each multi-county place, and the names of the counties it is in.

Arnaudville, pop. 1,444; St. Landry Parish (1,353), St. Martin Parish (91)

Delcambre, pop. 1,978; Vermilion Parish (1,438), Iberia Parish (540)

De Ridder, pop. 9,868; Beauregard Parish (9,511), Vernon Parish (357)

Des Allemands, pop. 2,504; St. Charles Parish (2,095), Lafourche Parish (409)

Downsville, pop. 101; Union Parish (82), Lincoln Parish (19)

Duson, pop. 1,465; Lafayette Parish (1,292), Acadia Parish (173)

Eunice, pop. 11,162; St. Landry Parish (10,930), Acadia Parish (232)

Junction City, pop. 749; Union Parish (644), Claiborne Parish (105)

Shreveport, pop. 198,525; Caddo Parish (198,034), Bossier Parish (491)

Tullos, pop. 427; La Salle Parish (427), Winn Parish (0)

Source: American Places Dictionary: A guide to 45,000 populated places, natural features, and other places in the United States.

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