Town of Maringouin

For over two hundred years, the French of Louisiana have used Maringouin to designate a swamp mosquito. The word, first used by Iberville, is said to have been corrupted from marigoui, a word found in some Brazilian Indian dialects. Iberville wrote of the pesky "maringouins" that kept his men awake at nights in the swamps of Louisiana. In 1831, a group of surveyors were mapping the area when they were suddenly attacked by a swarm of huge black mosquitos which almost covered the sun. The surveyors promptly attached the name of Maringouin to the area.

The actual birth of Maringouin is said to have been with the coming of the Texas & Pacific Railroad, which ran from New Orleans through Louisiana across Texas to El Paso. It was not until September, 1882, that the railroad service in Maringouin came and the lumbering industry began to develop.

A number of plantations were built in the area of Maringouin before 1882. Prior to the Civil War, the beautiful, one-story home, Tanglewild, was built by Bartholemew Barrow. The home was constructed at the end of Maringouin's Landry Street, just across from Bayou Grosse Tete.


Type of Government: Mayor and Bd. of Alderman (5) Lawrason Act
Police: 3 fulltime, 2 parttime officers / 2 patrol cars.
Fire Department: 20-30 volunteers /4 trucks
Fire Rating: 7 in city.
Health Care: New Roads, Baton Rouge
Recreation: Ridgewood Park, boating and fishing.