Visit Pierre Part

Would you like to spend your summer in Pierre Part?

Located in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, Pierre Part is home to the highest percentage of French speakers in the United States outside of Maine, with 39.3 percent of its residents speaking French at home.

Pierre Part is renowned for its deep French heritage, which significantly shapes its modern culture. Nestled near Lake Verret, it is a favored spot for water sports and fishing during the summer months.

Founded by Acadian French settlers after the Great Upheaval of 1755—when the British expelled much of the French population from Acadia—the town remained isolated and accessible only by water until the mid-20th century. Initially a fishing community, Pierre Part saw its residents diversify into logging, levee construction, and the burgeoning petroleum industry during the Great Depression. Today, fewer people continue the traditional ways of fishing and living off the land.

The inhabitants of Pierre Part are predominantly of French descent, tracing their lineage either directly from France or through Acadia in Canada. Until the mid-20th century, residents primarily spoke Cajun French at home. Outsiders often labeled them as “backwards” or “ignorant,” and from the 1910s to the 1970s, French-speaking students faced corporal punishment in schools. Since the 1970s, very few children have been taught Cajun French as their first language due to the shame instilled in previous generations. Efforts in the 1990s to reintroduce French into schools sparked controversy because the French taught was not Cajun French. Many teachers were from Belgium, France, and Canada, instructing in their own dialects. Nonetheless, some believe that teaching Standard French in immersion classes at Pierre Part Elementary School offers the best chance to preserve the local culture and language, despite the absence of a written standard for Cajun French.

Pierre Part gained wider recognition through the History Channel’s reality show, Swamp People, which debuted in 2010 and features the Landry family, a local Cajun family.