Chalmette

Chalmette has had a history of rebuilding. During the Great Mississippi flood of 1927, city leaders breached a levee at Caernarvon, 13 miles below Canal Street to try and save the city of New Orleans. By doing this cities including Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish were nearly destroyed by flooding. On August 29,2005 the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina moved up the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet( a small channel dug by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960's) inundated this town with up to 30 feet of water. Chalmette was almost entirely destroyed within hours. Witnesses say the water rose a foot every few minutes. On October 25, 2005 the EPA declared 90% of the buildings unsafe and to be torn down. Much of the top soil would have to be removed also, as a large storage tank for Murphy Oil settled at a angle causing oil leakage. To the credit of the people in this community of the United States, by November 2005 Murphy Oil and a handfull of other businesses had reopened. Many of the local citizens had moned into trailers and started rebuilding as soon as possible. The people of Chalmette did not leave or lose thier houses of their owm free will. But they chose to stay with their own freewill and not wait for the slow government assistance. St. Bernard Officials told FEMA they could not wait and made their own plans to rebuild. By December 2005 the parish had opened St. Bernard Unified School as a K-12 school. Last year Chalmette zHigh School had been repaired and reopened. In early 2006 St. Bernard celebrated Mardi Gras with parades thru Chalmette. The Knights of Nemisis also held parades. By October of 2006, 25,000 of the 33,000 residents had moved back to the town living in rebuilt homes and trailers. Many businesses have returned, schools have reopened. the recovery will take along time, but the people of this area have a strong spirit and sence of pride that cant be taken from them. Congradulations to the people of Chalmette/St.Bernard Parish you are a true role model we all can learn from you.

Chalmette, Loiusiana is a unincorporated community and is the parish seat of St. Bernard Parrish. Chalmette was named after plantation owner I. Martin de Lino de Chalmette. Chalmette is a french word meaning pasture. The population pre Hurricane Katrina was 36,000. The city is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River and just a stones throw from New Orleans. Chalmette is approx. 8 square miles and is part of the Greater New Orleans Area. Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish contains a small community of Spanish descent, refered to "Spanish Cajuns" decended from the Canary Islands, who arrived here in about 1780. They have their own dialect. Chalmette is the location of The Battle of New Orleans where General Andrew Jackson defeated the British on January 8, 1815. The battlefield has been preserved as the Chalmette National Historical Park or (Chalmette Battlefield). The historical Chalmette National Cemetary sits adjacent to the site of the battle. Its historical value has internments of over 15,300 soldiers laid to rest from major wars from the American Revolution to Vietnam. This cemetary is closed to future burials. The cemetary was established in 1864 for civil war dead, Union or Confederate alike. Interestingly enough of all the civil war soldiers buried here there are ovrr 12,000. Most of the Union soldiers here were moved here from old abandoned cemetarys. From 1919 to 1969 the area of Chalmette was effectively ruled as a fiefdom by Leander Perez.