Houma LA

Houma is a city in southeastern Louisiana, located approximately 45 miles southwest of New Orleans.http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Houma_US_and_New_Orleans_US.html It sits in the heart of America's Wetland, the seventh largest delta on earth, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.http://www.americaswetland.com/custompage.cfm?pageid=2&cid=5 The seat of Terrebonne Parish, Houma was home to 32,584 people as of 2009, a population increase of seven percent since 1990.http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_event=Search&geo_id=16000US2236255&_geoContext=01000US|04000US22|16000US2236255&_street=&_county=houma&_cityTown=houma&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=population_0&ds_name=null&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null:null&_keyword=&_industry=

The seafood and oil industries primarily support Houma's economy. The discovery of oil off the shore of Louisiana in the 1960s attracted several offshore drilling service companies to the coastal region of Houma. Terrebonne Parish also accounts for over 20 percent of Louisiana's seafood production and distribution.http://www.tpcg.org/view.php?f=main&p=history Twenty-one percent of Houma's workforce are in the educational and health care services, followed by 13.8 percent in retail trade and then 11.2 percent in agriculture and fishing.http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US2236255&-qr_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_DP5YR3&-ds_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-_sse=on

The original inhabitants of southeastern Louisiana were the Houma Indians. In 1822, French settlers in Louisiana founded Terrebonne Parish, which they named after the French words for "good earth." The original parish seat was Williamsburg (now called Bayou Cane), located about four miles northwest of what is now Houma, but was moved to Houma in 1834. Because Houma sits at the convergence of six bayous, government officials thought that the city would provide further opportunities for commerce and development in the area.http://www.tpcg.org/view.php?f=main&p=history

The land that became the new government seat in 1834 was donated by Richard H. Grinage and Hubert M. Belanger.http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~laterreb/history4.htm The city was named Houma after the Native American tribe that had lived in the area. The early industries that developed in Houma were agriculture, seafood, fur trading and logging. The first plantation of sugar cane was cultivated in 1828, and sugar became a primary export for the region. By 1851, Terrebonne had 110 sugar plantations and 80 sugar houses.http://www.tpcg.org/view.php?f=main&p=history

Houna is located at a latitude of 29° 35' N and a longitude of 90° 43' W.http://www.travelmath.com/city/Houma,+LA The city has an elevation of 10 feet above sea level. A network of bayous and shipping channels create a maze of waterways throughout Houma, earning it the nickname "Venice of America."http://books.google.com/books?id=Ac7i1Tx98cgC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=houma+venice+of+america&source=bl&ots=1sPJK_zUGW&sig=aqeBAZGlQb1r6A2YtXhN1Bk9_0o&hl=en&ei=7Z4vTcmzC4fHgAejvZRb&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=houma%20venice%20of%20america&f=false Many streets in the city are two-lane avenues split down the middle by canals for small boats.http://www.louisianatravel.com/houma

The wetlands extending along Louisiana's southeastern coast are disappearing at a rate of 25 to 35 square miles per year. The state has lost 1,829 square miles of land since the 1930s, including 198 square miles of loss during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.http://www.americaswetland.com/photos/article/OCPRCoastalFacts72910.pdfMarshland acts as a natural barrier from gulf storms, but the degradation of marshes in southern Louisiana creates a greater risk for hurricane damage.http://pan.intrasun.tcnj.edu/501/sharing/Extra/Scientific%20American_%20Drowning%20New%20Orleans.pdf

• Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum: A museum that preserves and promotes the area’s cultural and economic ties with the seafood and water transportation industries.http://www.terrebonnewaterlifemuseum.org/
• Dulac Cajun Tours and Charters: These local tours feature overnight stays at a Cajun camp, sight seeing, fishing, marsh tours and alligator hunts.http://www.gaidry.com/dulac/index.html
• Southdown Plantation House: A 19th century sugar manor house.http://www.southdownmuseum.org/
• Terrebonne Fine Arts Guild Gallery: A gallery that features and promotes art and culture in the Terrebonne Parish.http://www.tfag.org/
• Terrebonne Folklife Culture Center: An organization dedicated to preserving Cajun culture, offering classes on Cajun dancing, cooking, crafts and more.http://www.terrebonnefolklife.org/

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• Richie Cunningham: NFL playerhttp://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/cunniric01.htm
• Vicky Vilcan: The Biggest Loser contestanthttp://www.houmatoday.com/article/20090104/ARTICLES/901029870
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