St. George, Louisiana
St. George is a city in [East Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana|East Baton Rouge Parish] in Louisiana, USA. With a population of 86,316, it is the second most populous city in the parish and fifth most populous in the state.
St. George is the newest incorporated city in Louisiana and was approved through a ballot initiative on October 12, 2019. The city originated from previously unincorporated areas located southeast of Baton Rouge.
A legal action of St. George was filed in 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish on November 4, 2019. After rulings by the district court and the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the incorporation in a 4–3 decision.
History
Native American presence
After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, Bayou Manchac became an international border between the British and Spanish colonial territories. This bayou runs from the Mississippi River on the west to the Amite River on the east.Native Americans, specifically the Choctaw, were known to have lived in southeast Louisiana when Europeans first arrived. In 1764, after encroachment by European settlers, the Alabama-Coushatta and Pakana Muscogee Indians migrated into Louisiana, just north of Bayou Manchac.
American Revolution
In 1765, the British built Fort Bute on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River at Bayou Manchac, not far from the present-day University Club Golf Course. The fort consisted of a blockhouse and stockade capable of housing 200 men.On May 8, 1779, Spain officially entered the American Revolutionary War by declaring war against the British. With this news, Bernardo de Gálvez, the colonial Governor of Spanish Louisiana, began assembling an ad hoc army of over 1,400 Spanish regulars, Acadian militia, free men of color, and Native Americans. On August 27, 1779, they began advancing toward Baton Rouge. Trudging through muddy swamp at a rate of nine miles a day, they arrived at Fort Bute eleven days later. After a brief skirmish, they captured and demolished the fort in what would become the first Spanish action against the British during the American Revolutionary War. Galvez and his army remained at Fort Bute for six days before moving on to defeat the British garrison at Fort New Richmond in the Battle of Baton Rouge (1779). Their victories at Fort Bute and Fort New Richmond helped clear the Mississippi River of British forces and put the lower Mississippi River under Spanish control.
War of 1812
During the War of 1812, U.S. Gen. Andrew Jackson had the mouth of Bayou Manchac filled with earth to prevent the British from using it to launch a surprise attack on New Orleans. In 1828, American settlers reinforced that blockage with a large earthen dam to reduce floodwaters from regularly inundating their properties. Although it was later suggested that reconnecting the two bodies of water might actually help alleviate flooding in the area, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declined to do so.Village St. George
Between 1956 and 1968, the Village St. George subdivision was constructed near its namesake, later forming the core of the census-designated place of the same name.In 1966, the increased suburbanization of the area warranted the creation of the "Village St. George Volunteer Fire Department and Social Club," now called the St. George Fire Protection District. Its coverage area also overlapped with much of the new city's boundaries.
Place names
Prominent place names in the St. George area include:- Amite River: Possibly from the French amitié or Choctaw himmita
- Baton Rouge: Le bâton rouge is a translation of Istrouma, possibly a corruption of the Choctaw iti humma
- Bayou Manchac: From the Choctaw expression for "rear entrance"
- Essen Lane: Named by ethnic Germans in the area after a city in Germany
- Highland Road: From the "Dutch Highlanders," a colony of Pennsylvania German farmers who settled along the bluffs that overlook the Mississippi River floodplain at Highland Road
- Kleinpeter Farms Dairy: From the name of a prominent early German family in the area
- Mississippi River: From the French rendering of the Anishinaabe name for the river, meaning "Great River"
- Nicholson Drive : Named for James W. Nicholson, Civil War veteran and former president of Louisiana State University
- Perkins Road: Named for twin brothers from Kentucky who owned sugar plantations in Baton Rouge
- Siegen Lane: Named by ethnic Germans in the area after a city in Germany
- Staring Lane: From the name of a prominent early German family in the area
Annexations
Prior to the incorporation of St. George, any property owner in unincorporated areas adjacent to the Baton Rouge city limits could request to be annexed into the city of Baton Rouge. The request for annexation had to be submitted to the Metro Council for approval.During the first petition effort, several residents and business owners annexed into the Baton Rouge city limits.
Following the October 12, 2019, election, additional residents and business owners in the proposed St. George city limits requested annexation into the City of Baton Rouge. On January 8, 2020, the Metro Council approved all of these annexations.
On February 7, 2020, St. George organizers filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the annexations in the United Plaza area. The lawsuit claims that the legal requirements for these annexations were not followed. An attorney who represents the property owners claims that the lawsuit is without merit. Annexation petitions requested following the certification date of the October 12, 2019 election to incorporate the City of St. George could possibly be declared null and void since the City of Baton Rouge at that date lacked the authority to annex any properties within the boundaries of St. George established in the State of Louisiana approved petition to incorporate as authorized by Title 33 of Louisiana law.
On February 26, 2020, the Metro Council approved additional annexations into the City of Baton Rouge.
Incorporation
Population
St. George was incorporated through a ballot initiative on October 12, 2019, with 54% of the population supporting incorporation. With a population of 86,316, it is the second most populous city in the parish and the fifth most populous in the state.Government
Appointment of the interim government
According to Louisiana Revised Statute Title 33, Section 6 - Officers of newly incorporated municipality:Appointment of city officials
On May 14, 2024, following the Louisiana Supreme Court's decision to reverse the lower courts' ruling, thus allowing the incorporation of the City of St. George, Governor Jeff Landry appointed Dustin Yates to be the interim mayor and Todd Morrison to be the police chief.On May 23, 2024, Landry appointed the following members to serve as aldermen for the city of St. George.
- District 1: Steven Monachell
- District 2: Ryan Heck
- District 3: Max Himmel
- At-large: Richie Edmonds
- At-large: Patty Cook
Transition district officers
Following the Louisiana Supreme Court's April 2024 decision overturning the lawsuit challenging the incorporation of the City of St. George, the St. George Transition District had the necessary authority to proceed with duties outlined in Act 361 of the 2020 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. The first act was to elect officers. The officers elected included: J. Andrew Murrell as chairman, Norman Browning as vice chairman, Chris Rials as treasurer, Jim Talbot as a district member, and William Potter as secretary. Browning, Rials, Murrell, and Talbot were heavily involved in the petition efforts to incorporate, while Potter was recommended to serve by East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome. The transition district then approved a motion to request that East Baton Rouge Parish transfer a 2% sales tax revenue to the St. George Transition District. The transition district also voted to approve the opening of a bank account at Hancock-Whitney Bank, and approved the motion to headquarter the transition district out of the interim city hall located at the St. George Fire District Training Academy.Census-designated places
The city of St. George includes six of the seven Census-designated places south of Baton Rouge in East Baton Rouge Parish:The seventh CDP, Gardere, chose not to join the new city in the first petition effort.
Parks and recreation
The St. George area is served by the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. Park facilities in the St. George area include the Burbank Soccer Complex, the Highland Road Community Park, the Highland Road Park Observatory, Santa Maria Golf Course, and Airline Highway Park.Through BREC's Capital Area Pathways Project, a network of connected trails and greenways is being developed throughout the parish. BREC's Blueways initiative provides paddling access to Bayou Fountain from Highland Road Community Park. Additional canoe-kayak launches are planned for Bayou Manchac and Ward Creek.
The LSU Hilltop Arboretum is a 14-acre museum showcasing an extensive collection of Louisiana native trees and shrubs. It includes a pond with an elevated wooden boardwalk and trails through more than 150 species of Southern native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. A new feature is a wildflower meadow with an earthen amphitheater. A historic marker near the pond helps to identify the route of pioneering Philadelphia naturalist William Bartram through eight southern states, including Louisiana.
Historic sites
The National Register of Historic Places includes several sites in the St. George area. Among them are:- Audubon Plantation
- Les Chenes Vertes
- Lee Site Archaeological Site
- Ory House
- Santa Maria Plantation
- Sara Peralta Archeological Site
- Willow Grove
- Woodstock Plantation
- Burtville: Founded ca. 1887, Burtville was a logging town located on Nicholson Drive.
- Fort Bute: The original site lies beneath the Mississippi River.
- Hoo Shoo Too Club: The fishing lodge of the all-male Hoo Shoo Too Club was located along the banks of the Amite River.
- Jefferson Highway: The historic Jefferson Highway was designated in 1916. It runs from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
- Old Hickory Lodge: Believed to have been built in 1814 as a Masonic Lodge, the Old Hickory operated as a private social club at the intersection of Jefferson Highway and Tiger Bend Road.
- St. George Catholic Church: Founded in 1908, the church was the second Catholic church in East Baton Rouge Parish, after the downtown Baton Rouge church that would eventually be designated as St. Joseph Cathedral. The church parish's original boundaries were similar to the City of St. George's city limits, providing the area with an early sense of continuity. At present, it remains prominent in the area as the second-largest parish within the Diocese of Baton Rouge, along with its new 1,200-seat church building at Siegen Lane.
Education
Proposed school district
The incorporation effort for St. George began with a goal of creating a new school district independent of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.To form a new school district, however, the new city must first be established. Therefore, a new school district was not on the petition or ballot for the formation of the City of St. George.
The process for establishing a new school district in the St. George area would require several steps:Authorize a constitutional amendment: The Louisiana State Constitution would need to be amended to allow the new school district to access state education funds and to give the City of St. George authority to levy local property taxes. Authorization in the state legislature for a statewide referendum on a constitutional amendment would require support of two-thirds of both the House and the Senate.Establish boundaries: The state legislature, in a simple majority vote, would need to approve the map of the area to be served by the proposed St. George school district. The boundaries could extend beyond the boundaries of the City of St. George.Obtain voter approval: A statewide referendum would need to be held to approve the constitutional amendment. A majority of voters in the state as well as a majority of voters in East Baton Rouge Parish would need to approve the constitutional amendment for it to become law.
All of these steps would need to occur before a new school district could be formed.
In 2025, two bills were put forth in the Louisiana Legislature. Senate Bill 234, co-authored by Louisiana State Senator Rick Edmonds and Louisiana Representative Emily Chenevert, would establish the St. George Public School System, and Senate Bill 25, with the same co-authors, would allow St. George to be considered an equal and valid school district to established school districts in Louisiana, thus making them eligible to receive Minimum Foundation Program funding.
Since SB25 would require a constitutional amendment, it would have to pass both houses of the legislature by a two-thirds majority vote, while SB234 would require only a simple majority vote in each house.
Informal education
Facilities in the St. George area that provide opportunities for informal education include:- Highland Road Park Observatory
- Jones Creek Regional Branch Library
- LSU Hilltop Arboretum
Transportation
There are no east–west roads that run through the entire length of the city limits. However, Interstate 10, U.S. Highway 61, and the Jefferson Highway pass through the center of St. George in a north–south direction. The CDP of Old Jefferson is named for its proximity to the old Jefferson Highway.The Capital Area Transit System has only a limited presence in the St. George area. Currently, the new city has no intentions of expanding CATS' services within the new city limits.
Economy
The economy of the St. George area is an integral part of the Baton Rouge economy, the East Baton Rouge Parish economy, and the Baton Rouge MSA.Geography
Area
The city covers approximately 60 square miles and is located entirely within the southeastern section of East Baton Rouge Parish, bordered on the west by the Mississippi River, on the south by Bayou Manchac, and on the east by the Amite River. Much of the northwestern boundary of the city extends to the Baton Rouge city limits, although portions of St. George border unincorporated parish land.Flooding
The 2016 Louisiana floods had a profound effect upon East Baton Rouge Parish, particularly along the Comite River, the Amite River, and Bayou Manchac. In response, East Baton Rouge Parish developed a Stormwater Master Plan Implementation Framework to mitigate flooding concerns.In 2018, Congress authorized funding for the East Baton Rouge Parish Flood Risk Reduction Project to reduce flooding throughout the parish. Using $187 million in federal funds and $64 million in matching state and local funds, the project will provide for 66 miles of drainage improvements along five sub-basins in the parish. In the St. George area, the authorized four-year projects involve:
- Jones Creek and tributaries: clearing and snagging three miles and structurally lining 16 miles with reinforced concrete
- Ward Creek and tributaries: clearing and snagging 14 miles of channel and concrete lining
- Bayou Fountain: clearing and widening 11 miles of channel