Montegut, Louisiana

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Montegut is a census-designated place (CDP) in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,540 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area. Montegut was the primary filming location for the 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild.

History

Montegut developed around a sugar mill founded in 1883. Named by Congressman Edward James Gay when the post office was opened in 1885, it honored Gabriel Montegut, a prominent resident of parish seat Houma.<ref name="terrebook">Cenac, Christopher Everette. Hard Scrabble to Hallelujah, Volume 1: Bayou Terrebonne: Legacies of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana (2016)</ref>

The 1941 WPA guide to Louisiana reported an elevation of 8 feet and population of 200.<ref name="wpa guide">Louisiana; a guide to the state, p. 421 (1941)</ref>

Geography

Montegut is located at Template:Coord (29.473700, -90.555381).<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.5 square miles (11.8 kmTemplate:Sup), of which 4.5 square miles (11.6 kmTemplate:Sup) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 kmTemplate:Sup) (1.54%) is water.

Demographics

Montegut racial composition as of 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Race	Number	Percentage
White (non-Hispanic)	1,093	74.61%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	27	1.84%
Native American	176	12.01%
Asian	5	0.34%
Pacific Islander	1	0.14%
Other/Mixed	131	8.94%
Hispanic or Latino	31	2.12%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,465 people, 594 households, and 443 families residing in the CDP.

Education

Terrebonne Parish School District operates public schools.<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref> Montegut Elementary School and Montegut Middle School are in the community.<ref>"Montegut Elementary Template:Webarchive." Terrebonne Parish School District. Retrieved on July 27, 2010.</ref>

École Pointe-au-Chien, a public school (non-district) in Pointe-aux-Chenes,<ref name=OlivierinAugust>Template:Cite web</ref> has a Montegut postal address, though it is not in the Montegut CDP.<ref>Template:Cite web - Compare to the map of the Montegut CDP from the 2020 US Census. The City of Houston stated: "The U.S. Postal Service establishes ZIP codes and mailing addresses in order to maximize the efficiency of their system, not to recognize jurisdictional boundaries."</ref> It was the former Pointe-aux-Chenes Elementary School, a Terrebonne Parish public school which closed in 2021.<ref name=OlivierinAugust/>

The parish is in the service area of Fletcher Technical Community College.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, a Delgado Community College document stated that Terrebonne Parish was in the college's service area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In popular culture

The 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild was filmed in Montegut. Director Benh Zeitlin and his crew worked out of an abandoned gas station in town. They built the film's fictional settlement—the "Bathtub"—by hand with found artifacts and rusted-out equipment from the surrounding area.<ref>"[1]." Retrieved on February 6, 2013.</ref> The film was nominated for four Academy Awards.

Notable people

Allen J. Ellender, a Senator from Louisiana from 1937 to 1972, and the President pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate from 1971 to 1972, was born here.<ref>Laurence Kestenbaum. https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/LA/TB-buried.html Retrieved March 23, 2023</ref>

External links

• Montegut's daily newspaper -- Houmatoday.com
• Pitre history in Montegut <--Broken link May 2015.