Editing Port Sulphur, Louisiana (section)

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2016}}
[[File:FreeportSulphurPlaquemines35.jpg|left|thumb|1935]]
Port Sulphur was originally a typical [[company town]], with its residents and civic life closely tied to the Freeport Sulphur Company. As the company divested itself of much of the town property and governance, it became more of a regular town with private individual land ownership. As the number of employees at the site dwindled, the Freeport Company became less important in everyday life and economic activity. At some point, most of the company-owned land not necessary for the sulphur operation was transferred to Plaquemines Parish or sold to private owners. The economic fortunes of the Freeport Sulphur Company declined during the 1980s and 1990s, resulting from the competitive forces of recovered Sulphur processed from sour oil & gas. In the early 2000s Freeport Sulphur shut down operations, as the price of sulphur dropped too low because large amounts of sulphur recovered during petroleum refining and from Canadian natural gas exploration were dumped on the international sulphur market. With inexpensive recovered sulphur in large supply, the large scale and expensive Frasch Process sulphur mining and storage operations proved to be uneconomical and were discontinued. The Freeport-McMoRan Port Sulphur facility was closed and sold. Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of what was left of the sulphur facility in August 2005, with a few buildings remaining.
                                                                                                                         
The large brick Plaquemines Parish Government building located on [[Louisiana Highway 23]] (LA 23) in town next to the former Freeport property was originally the Freeport Sulphur Company administration building. The Port Sulphur school and other buildings located around the Civic Drive area were originally located on company property and are oriented towards the former Freeport Property. Much of the original town buildings were sold or removed, and much of the original town site sits mostly vacant empty land, with a large stand of oak trees on the former Freeport Property next to the Plaquemines Government building. An [[historical marker]] about Port Sulphur is located in front of the Government Building. The golf course land located on LA 23, just south of the former Freeport property, was originally a neighborhood of the company townsite. The land was later donated to the Plaquemines Parish Government.

The town began to struggle economically after Freeport Sulphur Mine ended its business in the town.<ref name=Longmanlights>{{cite news|author=Longman, Jeré|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/sports/othersports/10parish.html|title=Finding Their Way in the Dark|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2006-11-10|access-date=2016-12-03}} - Print: page D3, New York edition, "Finding Their Way in the Dark."</ref>

[[File:Katrina-port-sulphur-la-2005.jpg|right|thumb|Residential section after Katrina]]
The town is {{convert|8|ft|m}} above sea level and had not flooded during [[Hurricane Betsy]] nor [[Hurricane Camille]].{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} Before [[Hurricane Katrina]] and [[Hurricane Rita]] about 3,000 people lived in Port Sulphur.<ref name=Longmanfocustrumps>{{cite news|author=Longman, Jeré|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/sports/othersports/05parish.html|title=A Razor-Sharp Focus Trumps Uncertainty |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2007-12-05|access-date=2016-12-03}}</ref> Nevertheless, during [[Hurricane Katrina]], the federal levees failed and around {{convert|22|ft|m}}{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} of water engulfed the town. Almost all [[single-family home]]s in the town were destroyed, many of which were moved off their [[Foundation (engineering)|foundations]] by as much as 100 feet.  In the months following Katrina, some residents moved back to Port Sulphur in trailers and modular homes provided by the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]]. But many residents relocated to other parts of Louisiana, the Southeast, and Texas.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

By November 2006, in the post-Katrina period, the post office and several businesses had reopened, and Highway 23 had some street lights added.<ref name=LongmanJereDoubt>{{cite news|author=Longman, Jeré|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/sports/21parish.html|title=Season of Renewal Ends in Defeat and Doubt|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2006-11-21|access-date=2016-12-03}}</ref> By December 2007 there were about 1,500 residents of Port Sulphur and the majority of the small businesses resumed operations. Due to the usage of modular buildings and trailers in the period, Jeré Longman described it as "a feel of impermanence and uncertainty."<ref name=Longmanfocustrumps/>