Answered By: Joelle Maurepas
Last Updated: Jun 03, 2022     Views: 6693

Good question!

In 1810, a Louisiana resident by the name of Fulwar Skipwith lead a rebellion against the Spanish who then controlled an area of Louisiana known now as the Florida Parishes.  These parishes are: East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West Feliciana - the modern day Florida parishes. 

After the successful rebellion, Fulwar and his provisional government re-named the area the Republic of West Florida and attempted to negotiate admission to the Union through official annexation.

The U.S. however considered the area part of a previously negotiated treaty, ignored Skipwith's government, and brought the area under the control of civil and military authorities then based in New Orleans.

That's where the name came from, it's persistence is probably due to the fact that historically there has been a disconnect between the culture of the Florida Parishes, and the culture of New Orleans Area and Acadiana - this is discussed in the link below from the NPS.

The National Park Service has a description of the West Florida Parishes, and Southeastern University's website has a page detailing Fulwar's role in the creation of the Republic of West Florida.

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Comments (2)

  1. When ask why they are called Florida Parishes I couldn't remember. All I could remember from Louisiana History that 8 parishes are named that. At 84 my history memory isn't what it use to be. Thanks for the refresher course.
    by Cherry Davis on Aug 23, 2017
  2. I've always followed the weather and weather patterns since college, but never knew/understood why there were Parishes in Louisiana referred to as "the Florida Parishes". This article explains the reasons and does it in such a way that it can be understood by school aged children. I've shared the article with my close friends, many of whom are educators. Thank you.
    by E.J. PATCH Roberson on Jun 02, 2022

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