Map of Port Barre town

Port Barre (BAH-ree) is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town began in 1760 as an Indian trading post at the place where Bayou Teche flows out of Bayou Courtableau. The population was 2,055 at the 2010 census, down from 2,287 in 2000. It is part of the Opelousas–Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area and home to the Port Barre High School Red Devils.

Port Barre town overview:
Name:	Port Barre town
LSAD Code:	43
LSAD Description:	town (suffix)
State:	Louisiana
County:	St. Landry Parish
Elevation:	23 ft (7 m)
Total Area:	1.12 sq mi (2.89 km²)
Land Area:	1.08 sq mi (2.79 km²)
Water Area:	0.04 sq mi (0.10 km²)
Total Population:	1,751
Population Density:	1,624.30/sq mi (627.35/km²)
ZIP code:	70577
Area code:	337
FIPS code:	2261825
Website:	https://www.townofportbarre.com

Online Interactive Map

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Port Barre online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Port Barre location map. Where is Port Barre town?

Port Barre location on the U.S. Map. Where is Port Barre town. — Port Barre location on the U.S. Map.

Port Barre location on the Louisiana map. Where is Port Barre town. — Location of Port Barre in Louisiana.

History

Port Barre takes its name from Alex Charles Barre (born 1746, died 1829); it was not incorporated under this name until 1898.

In 1733, the semi-nomadic Opelousas Indians petitioned the French colonial government to send traders to their district. In 1760, a couple of coureurs des bois set up a trading post at a landing where the bayous meet.

In 1765, Jacques Courtableau, a wealthy landowner, gave land grants to 32 Acadian immigrants. That same year, he sold a large parcel of land, including the site of the first trading post, to Charles Barre. The post later became known as Barre’s Landing, then Port Barre. It thrived as a port town before the days of the railroads.

Alex Charles Barre is a descendant of Guillaume Barre, born 1642 in St. Valery, France. He emigrated, settling about 1665 at Martinique in the French West Indies. There Guillaume Barre met Jean Roy (1625–1707) and Jean Hebert (1624), and they traveled together to Louisiana.

The Barres settled in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, where they met the Nezat family (Pierre Nezat coming from Saint Domingue), and the Provost family (Nicolas Provost coming from Paris via Fort de Chartres, in the Illinois Country. In 1765, Charles Alex Barre bought a large parcel of land including the site of the first trading post from Jacques Courtableau. Barre married Magdelaine Decuir in Pointe Coupee, and they had 11 children together. Three of their children married three members of the Nezat family. At this same time, three Nezats married three Roys, and the three families became closely entwined.

In 1820, Charles Alex Barre purchased additional acres from Sieur Jacques Guillaume Courtableau along the bank of the bayou, where the Barre family operated a goods handling business. The Barre, Nezat, and Roy families settled in this area and expanded. The settlement continued to grow through the 19th century. On July 13, 1898, the village of Port Barre was officially incorporated by Act of Proclamation of Louisiana Governor Jared Y. Sanders, Sr.

Port Barre Road Map

Port Barre city Satellite Map

Geography

Port Barre is located 8 miles east of Opelousas, and 52 miles west of Baton Rouge via U.S. Highway 190 at the confluence of Bayou Courtableau and Bayou Teche.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km), all land.