Editing Taft, Louisiana (section)

==History==
Taft is the location of a [[phosphate]] processing facility owned by [[The Mosaic Company]] (formerly IMC-Agrico); the [[Dow Chemical Company|Dow]]/[[Union Carbide]] Taft/Star Petrochemical Plant, which produces a variety of organic chemicals such as [[acrolein]], [[acrylic acid]], and [[acetaldehyde]]; and part of the [[Waterford Nuclear Generating Station]] owned by [[Entergy Corporation]]. Virtually all of the land is now zoned as heavy industrial.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scpgis.com/zoning/index.html|title = ArcGIS Web Application}}</ref>

Taft was the original site of [[Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church]], which served Taft, [[Killona, Louisiana|Killona]] and [[Hahnville, Louisiana|Hahnville]]. The church was built in 1877, and in 1963, it moved to Hahnville. The cemetery is still in Taft and is still used as a burial ground by the church. It is bounded on three sides by the Dow chemical facilities.

Population was 700 when the first post office opened in 1905, and it remained in operation until 1967. By 1977, only 36 people lived in Taft.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 2000|title=Town Histories {{!}} St. Charles Parish, LA|url=https://www.stcharlesparish-la.gov/departments/economic-development-and-tourism/parish-history/town-histories#anchor_1596814285753|access-date=2020-10-09|website=www.stcharlesparish-la.gov|publisher=L'Observateur}}</ref>

In December, 1982, a major explosion occurred at the Union Carbide facility about 30 miles from [[New Orleans]], causing nearly 17,000 people to evacuate.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 1983|title=EVACUATION BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY OF THE TAFT, LOUISIANA CHEMICAL TANK EXPLOSION INCIDENT|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a133993.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208230425/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a133993.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=February 8, 2021|publisher=Defense Technical Information Center|location=Columbus, Ohio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Marcus|first=Frances|date=1982-12-12|title=20,000 FLEE LOUISIANA AREA AFTER CHEMICAL PLANT BLAST (Published 1982)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/12/us/20000-flee-louisiana-area-after-chemical-plant-blast.html|access-date=2020-10-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>