City of DONALDSONVILLE

The area briefly known as the Second Acadian Coast began as a trading post about 1750.

The development of the city of Donaldsonville began in 1806 on the farm of Pierre Landry when landowner William Donaldson hired Bartholemew Lafon to prepare a street plan for the town he wished to build.

Donaldson named a street or public place for every county in territorial Louisiana. He named Chetimaches and Houmas Streets for the tribes of Indians who had formerly lived there.

It will be the home of Governor Francis T. Nicholls and of Dr. F.M. Prevost, who performed the first Cesarean section in 1824.

It will serve as the Parish seat of Ascension Parish. After a post office was named Donaldsonville in 1822, Donaldson began to petition the legislature to make his town the capital of Louisiana.

In 1930 he succeeds, if for only one session. Donaldsonville is the Capital of Louisiana from January 1830 to January 1831. After one week of the second year’s session in the small town the legislators decided it had little attraction as the seat of state government and moved back to New Orleans.

On the east bank of Bayou Lafourche, about five miles below Donaldsonville, is Belle Alliance Plantation house (1846), a 33 room Greek Revival manor built by Belgian aristocrat Charles A. Koch. The center hall on the second floor is illuminated by a large oval stained glass skylight, unique in Louisiana plantation homes. It will be owned by the Koch family until 1915, and then is occupied by Mr. C. S. Churchill who bought it in 1927. It is a private residence.

In 1848 the old State House is razed, and its bricks used to prevent wave-wash at the bayou’s mouth.

Donaldsonville survived this setback and the bombardment during the Civil War to become a busy port serving as a gateway to Bayou Lafourche and other areas of settlement to the south.

Type of Government: Mayor and Commission (4) Home Rule Charter
Police: contract with Sheriff"s office.
Fire Department: 5 full-time / 29 volunteers / 5 trucks.
Fire Rating: 5 in city.
Health Care: 1 hospital /35 beds / 1 nursing home
1 retirement center.
Hotels/Motels: 2 / 40 rooms.
Recreation & Culture: Historic District, fishing and skiing on Lake Verret, youth recreation programs.

During the month of April, 1906, exactly 100 years following the beginning of Donaldsonville, Joseph Gonzales subdivided several farms into lots and squares under the name of Village of Gonzales. Lots were sold at $50, $75, and $100. Joseph Gonzales kept working for schools, churches, good roads, and drainage.