St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana enjoys a very long and very rich history. The area was first viewed by the explorers Iberville and Bienville when they explored the Mississippi River in 1699. The ridges of what we call Bayou Terre a Bouef attained its name because of the buffalo the first settlers discovered grazing there.

Once New Orleans was founded in 1718 and the region began to be settled by Frenchmen, the fertile lands below the city were ceded to the Mandeville family as a land grant. They would control this area until Spanish Governor Galvez needed lands for his Islanos soldiers and their families who he imported in 1778 as a counterforce to threatened British aggression during the American Revolution. The area was named San Bernardo after the Governor's patron saint.

Eventually other groups would find their way to the rich soils and bountiful waterways of this region. Creole sugar planters and their slaves build plantations along the river; Freemen and Freewomen of color settled here during the ante bellum period; and Italian farmers arrived in the late 1800s.

The population remained modest until the middle of the 2oth century. At that time two events occurred. First was the rapid industrialization with the construction of the sugar refinery (second largest in the world), the two oil refineries that operate to this day, and the massive Kaiser Aluminum Plant which began production in the 1950s but closed in the mid 1980s. These industries generated a massive influx of workers who became new residents.

One other endeavor for economic development opposed by most residents of St. Bernard was the construction of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) in 1957.

This industrial base provided the income for a massive immigration of workers and the new economic muscle opened the door for many small businesses that were needed to service this growing and affluent population.

In the 1960s a new influx of residents appeared as the desire for green space that so drove sub-urbanization at that time took hold in St. Bernard. People fled the congestion of the inner cities throughout America for open spaces. The same occurred in New Orleans to the benefit of St. Bernard Parish.

By 2005 St. Bernard Parish boasted a population of 67,000 people living in 26,000
homes service by over 1,800 businesses. St. Bernard expressed a true community spirit. Most people had lived here for generations, everyone knew one another from early school age, and the crime levels were extremely low. The parish had become one of those "You could leave your door unlocked without fear at night" communities.

That all changed on the morning of August 29,2005

Hurricane Katrina was a category #1 storm headed for the Florida panhandle on Friday morning August 26th But... by evening that had changed. Katrina began to move westward further into the warm gulf and the "cone of probability" by
11 :00 pm Friday it had shifted west to the New Orleans area.

Most citizens were unaware of this change and went about their lives blissfully unaware of the new threat. By Saturday the storm began to intensify until finally attaining catastrophic Category #5 status.

Citizens began an orderly, but hurried evacuation of St. Bernard in anticipation of the worst, but truly believing that, like all time before, they would return to their comfortable homes within three days. They packed accordingly.

Such was not to be the case. Hurricane Katrina turned north, then slightly northeast and struck a devastating blow to those parishes, including St. Bernard, that occupy the "boot-tip" of Louisiana.

The north winds on the western side of the storm drove waters from Lake Borgne and the MRGO, as predicted, against the levees along the MRGO. These levees catastrophically failed for nearly 16 miles along the length of the canal. Waters also entered St. Bernard from the levee breach at the Industrial Canal. Within 20 minutes, what was dry land in the aftermath of a powerful storm had become a lake. The civic center was engulfed with over 18 feet of standing water.

Another tragedy struck within three weeks time. Hurricane Rita, another Category #5 storm, re-flooded some of the low lying areas because of the now broken levee system.

In a mere three weeks a thriving community that had flourished since the early 1700s was 100% destroyed: all homes, all businesses, all schools, the college, public buildings.. .everything was gone! ! ! !

The proud, hard-working, and resilient people of St. Bernard are struggling to rebuild. It will take time and tremendous effort. But the people are up to the challenge.