Editing Gonzales, Louisiana (section)

==History==
Early European settlers of the area that was developed as Gonzales were, for the most part, of [[French people|French]] and [[Spanish people|Spanish]] ancestry. They settled among the [[Houma people|Houma Indians]] who lived in the area.

Among the projects and plans carried out by [[Luis de Unzaga]] ("Le Conciliateur") while he was governor of [[Louisiana]] between 1769 and [[1777]] was the promotion of new settlements by Europeans; among them were French [[Acadians]] and [[Málaga]] in the fertile [[Mississippi]] region, and more specifically in the Unzaga Post or "Puesto de Unzaga" that he created in 1771 in [[Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana|Pointe Coupee]], the parish of [[St. Gabriel, Louisiana|Saint Gabriel]] in 1773 and Fort [[Manchac]] in [[1776]]; the Gonzales people occupied land at the confluence of the aforementioned European settlements.<ref>Cazorla, Frank (2019) The governor Louis de Unzaga (1717-1793) Pioneer in the Birth of the United States of America and in Liberalism. Foundation Malaga, pages 48-56, 64-72, 83</ref>

By 1851, the small European settlement still had only ten residents. A school was established in 1855 by Adlard Gautreaux for the European-American children in the area. By 1886, the settlement had grown, and the citizens of the community elected "Big" José Gonzáles as their [[sheriff]]. José's son, [[Joseph Gonzales (politician)|Joseph "Tee-Joe" (for Petit Joe) Gonzales]], opened a general store and post office in May 1887. The post office became known as the Gonzales Post Office.

Construction of the railroad to the village stimulated the growth of Gonzales. When the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company (LR&N) constructed its rail line through the area, the local post office was already named Gonzales. The rail company executives wanted to name their station Edenborn, after the company's owner, Willam Edenborn. The company also wanted to move the station north of the area to [[New River, Louisiana]], then called Belle Hellene. After local residents filed protests with the Louisiana Railroad Commission, the railroad company was ordered to leave the station at Gonzales. The LR&N still tried to change the name to Edenborn.  
But the residents continued to protest and persuaded the Louisiana Legislature to pass a law requiring railroad companies to name their railroad stations the same as the local post offices.

Gonzales was laid out and subdivided in 1906.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHeeUa0xNxcC&q=captain+joseph+gonzales+louisiana&pg=PT175 |title=Louisiana Place Names: Popular, Unusual, and Forgotten Stories of Towns ... - Clare D'Artois Leeper - Google Books |date= 19 October 2012|isbn=9780807147405 |access-date=2014-02-15|last1=Leeper |first1=Clare D'Artois |publisher=LSU Press }}</ref> It was officially incorporated as a village in 1922. Joseph Gonzales was elected as the first [[mayor]]. The village continued to grow, with transportation improved by construction of [[U.S. Highway 61|Airline Highway]].

Governor [[Earl K. Long]] proclaimed Gonzales as a town in 1952, during his term. The town held its first Jambalaya Festival in 1968. Governor [[John J. McKeithen]] marked the occasion by proclaiming Gonzales as the "Jambalaya Capital of the World".

Following the growth of industrial corporations in the area,<!-- what kind? --> the town was chartered by the state legislature as a city in 1977.

Gonzales became better known in 2005, after the widespread destruction caused by [[Hurricane Katrina]]. The [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]], and HSUS and other animal rescue groups, established their bases at the fairground in Gonzales. This became their main search and rescue headquarters, as well as the site for holding pets pending return to their families; the animals were rescued from New Orleans and many other locations. Some people were reunited with their lost pets at this site.

In 2024, the City of Gonzales saw the election its first African-American Mayor, Timothy “Tim” Riley along with its first female council members; Terri Lambert and Cynthia Gray James. James would also go down in history as the city’s first minority female to be elected to public office.