St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Plantation House. Present-day St. John the Baptist Parish includes the third permanent settlement in what is now the state of Louisiana, after Natchitoches (1714) and New Orleans (1718). It was considered part of the German Coast http://www.gachgs.com/. The area was settled in the early 1720s by a group of German colonists. Many families established towns close to the Mississippi River in the areas now known as Lucy, Garyville, and Reserve. The area was under the French regime until 1763, when France ceded Louisiana to Spain after the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War). At the beginning of the
History of the French in Louisville As a tribute to Louisville's connection to the French, Louisville's sister city in France, Montpellier, gave Louisville a statue of King Louis XVI of France, the namesake of Louisville, that it held in storage for years. The statue was officially presented in 1967, and still stands at the southeast street corner of Louisville Metro Hall. French influence remains in the community by such groups as the Alliance Française of Louisville which hosts events and help teach French. The city, whose previous name was Bardstown, was later named Louisville. This occurred after they were named sister city to a city in