Reserve, Louisiana

History

Prior to the name Reserve, this town was once called Bonnet Carre; the town name had been changed by businessman and resident Leon Godchaux by the late 1800s. The Godchaux–Reserve Plantation was built by Leon Godchaux, and the oldest portion of the plantation home dates to 1764, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In the early 20th century, the plantation at Reserve had the largest sugarcane refinery in the United States, named Godchaux Sugar Refinery.

President William Howard Taft visited Reserve and the Godchaux–Reserve Plantation in 1909, while President Gerald Ford visited Reserve in 1976.

In addition, in 2005 Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, which dates back to 1937, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Our Lady of Grace was built to serve the needs of the African American Catholic Community.

Pontchartrain Works

In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reported findings of the existence of an extremely high risk of cancer in the region and noted that Reserve was the epicenter of the area known as cancer alley. The agency identified releases of the chemical compound chloroprene as responsible for the high risk.

This chemical compound was being released from the Pontchartrain Works facility, a manufacturing facility owned and operated for decades by DuPont and sold in 2015 to Denka of Japan. The facility is the only producer of the chemical in the United States.

Geography

Reserve is located at (30.062566, -90.553296).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 17.1 square miles (44.3 km), of which 16.1 square miles (41.6 km) is land and 1.0 square mile (2.7 km) (6.13%) is water.

Climate

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Reserve was first listed as an unincorporated place in the 1950 U.S. census; and then as a census designated place in the 1980 U.S. census.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,541 people, 3,232 households, and 2,246 families residing in the CDP. As of the census of 2000, there were 9,111 people, 3,068 households, and 2,347 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 567.1 PD/sqmi. There were 3,385 housing units at an average density of 210.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 44.17% White, 53.92% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.60% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.98% of the population.

There were 3,068 households, out of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 22.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 32.2% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,466, and the median income for a family was $40,191. Males had a median income of $33,297 versus $19,671 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $13,373. About 18.4% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.8% of those under age 18 and 15.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board, which covers the entire parish, operates public schools in the community.

• East St. John Preparatory Academy (formerly East St. John Elementary School) (Reserve CDP, LaPlace postal address) - The Times-Picayune describes the school as being in LaPlace. It had a fire in 2015, and its 65000 sqft replacement facility opened in 2018. It became a 5-8 school only in 2017. In 2025 East St. John Preparatory School is to be renamed Fifth Ward Preparatory School, as the former Fifth Ward Elementary School will close that year.
• Fifth Ward Elementary School
  • Historically the institution was a segregated school for African-American students. Previously the facility was a junior high school. In 2024, most of the students were African-American. It is adjacent to a chemical plant owned by Denka Performance Elastomer. It is scheduled to close in 2025, and East St. John Preparatory School in turn is to be renamed Fifth Ward Preparatory School. In 2008 two K–8 schools served separate areas that have Reserve addresses: Prior to 2017,

High schools:

• East St. John High School in Reserve serves the community.

Private schools:

• Riverside Academy is a small private school in Reserve.

St. Peter Catholic School of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans is a K–7 Catholic school. Our Lady of Grace School was a Catholic K–7 school in Reserve. It closed in 2015; it had 171 students remaining, with about 51 having taken advantage of a Louisiana school voucher regime. There were two graduating classes in 2015.

Notable people

• Jared Butler, NCAA basketball player for the Baylor Bears, MVP of the 2021 Final Four
• Demond "Tweety" Carter, former basketball player at Baylor
• Rico Gathers, NFL Football player with the Dallas Cowboys and former College Basketball player at Baylor University
• Edmond Hall, jazz clarinet player and bandleader
• Herb Hall, jazz clarinet player
• Ryan Perrilloux, Quarterback for Louisiana State University, Jacksonville State and New York Giants
• Patrick Lewis, professional football player for Seattle Seahawks; collegiate player at Texas A&M
• Kid Thomas Valentine, jazz trumpeter and bandleader

References

References

1. "NPGallery Asset Detail, Godchaux--Reserve Plantation House".
2. (October 12, 2018). "Godchaux-Reserve House will celebrate progress on renovation project".
3. Hammer, David. (2017-12-16). "Leon Godchaux: The Times-Picayune covers 175 years of New Orleans history".
4. (December 17, 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Reserve Plantation House". United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
5. (2019-05-06). "'Almost every household has someone that has died from cancer'". The Guardian.
6. (October 12, 2020). "Racism turned their neighborhood into 'Cancer Alley.' Now they're dying from COVID-19.".
7. (2019-06-26). "Residents of America's Cancer Town confront chemical plant owner in Japan".
8. (2019-11-16). "Reporting on 'Cancer Town': 'We will hold politicians accountable for inaction'".
9. (2021-02-17). "Revealed: chemicals giant sold Louisiana plant amid fears over cost of offsetting toxic emissions".
10. (2011-02-12). "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". [[United States Census Bureau]].
11. "NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access". NOAA.
12. "Decennial Census by Decade".
13. (1950). "1950 Census of Population - Louisiana - Table 7 - Population of all incorporated places and of unincorporated places of 1,000 or more: 1950 and 1940".
14. (1960). "1960 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Louisiana - Table 8 - Population of All Incorporated Places and Unincorporated Places of 1,000 or More: 1940 to 1960".
15. (1970). "1970 Census of Population - Louisiana - Characteristics of the Population - Table 6. Population of Places: 1970 and 1960".
16. (1980). "1980 Census of Population - Louisiana - Table 14 - Summary of General Characteristics".
17. (1990). "1990 Census of Population - Louisiana - Table 1. Summary of General Characteristics of Persons: 1990".
18. (2000). "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Louisiana". United States Census Bureau.
19. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Louisiana".
20. "P004 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Reserve CDP, Louisiana".
21. "P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Reserve CDP, Louisiana".
22. "P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Reserve CDP, Louisiana".
23. "U.S. Census website". [[United States Census Bureau]].
24. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: St. John the Baptist Parish, LA". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
25. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Reserve CDP, LA". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
26. "Home". East St. John Preparatory Academy.
27. (2018-08-15). "East St. John Prep rebounds from fire". [[The Advocate (Louisiana).
28. "School Profile". East St. John Preparatory Academy.
29. (2024-11-07). "School next to controversial Louisiana plant to close". [[Times Picayune]].
30. "[http://www.stjohn.k12.la.us/forms_and_Info/Enrollment%20Zones/Existing%20Enrollment%20Zones.pdf Attendance Zones] {{webarchive. link. (2008-09-12 ." ''[[St. John the Baptist Parish School Board]]''.)
31. "St. John School Enrollment Zones". [[St. John the Baptist Parish School Board]].
32. Kamerick, Megan. "[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=NOBB&d_place=NOBB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F9E86ED398EFDC8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Seven area schools create academies for Freshmen]." ''[[New Orleans CityBusiness]]''. Monday April 1, 2002. Retrieved on March 17, 2013. Available on [[LexisNexis]]. ""You see it in a variety of ways," says Debra Schum, principal at East St. John High School in Reserve, which has 400 freshmen and total of 1,400 students."
33. [http://riversideacademy.com Riverside Academy official website]
34. "Home". St. Peter Catholic School.
35. (2014-10-27). "Closing of 3 New Orleans-area schools to displace hundreds of students in 2015". [[The Times Picayune]].