The Parish of Terrebonne was created March 22d, 1922, out of a portion of the Parish of Lafourche Interior.  It contains an approximate superficial area of 1808 square miles, and is much larger than the State of Rhode Island, and nearly as large as Delaware.  Only one parish in the State exceeds it in superficial, the Parish of Calcasieu.
     Less than one eighteenth of the parish is high land; the balance is marshes, swamps, low prairies, bayous and lakes.
     The cultivable land is composed of the ridges along the banks of the different bayous, rich alluvial soil that is highly productive and easily cultivated.  The principal bayous are the Terrebonne, Little Caillou, Grand Caillou, Black, Dularge and Blue.  The space between the ridges of the different bayous is mostly swamps of cypress timber.  Numerous lakes, bays and islands form part of the parish, and its southern limits are washed by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
     The population in 1890 was 20,451.  There were 10,574 whites, 9,541 negroes, and 336 persons of Indian extraction. 
     At the time Terrebonne was made a parish but few settlements dotted the fertile banks of its many sluggish bayous that would through luxurious vegetation and virgin forests untouched by the woodman’s ax.  Stately trees grew along Bayou Terrebonne, and interlacing above nearly closed the heavens from view.  Dense canebrakes were where now teeming fields of sugar cane and corn reward the husbandman for his toil.  Amidst this wilderness the bear panther and deer dwelt, and few there were to trouble them.  Cranes, herons and other aquatic birds filled the streams and swamps, and the alligator disputed the settler’s right to paddle his pirogue through some of the principal bayous.  The greater portion of the Indians had been removed from Louisiana, but a few lingered in the State, and a small band existed near the lower limits of the parish.  Near Gibson, and on the lower Terrebonne and Grand Caillou, are Indians mounds which attest an era when the red men held undisputed sway over this country.
     “Good land.” Such is the meaning of the word Terrebonne, translated from the French, and truly it was an appropriate name to apply to this rich and productive soil. 
     The first settlements in this parish were made during the closing decade of the eighteenth century, by French Canadians, principally from the older colonies of Louisiana.  Some French, Americans, Spaniards and Germans also made this their home.  During that period various grants were made to divers persons by the Baron de Carondelet, then Governor of Louisiana, which was then a Spanish colony.  Reference is made in the public records of 1828 to a tract of land on Bayou Grand Caillou, near Quitman’s Lake, as “the locality known by the name of the ancient encampement Derbonne.”
     The Derbonne or Terrebonne family seem to have been amongst the earliest pioneers of this parish.  These settlers came by way of the Gulf, in their luggers, and ascending the different bayous, explored the banks of the different streams.  It was not until about the time Terrebonne became a parish that a narrow road was opened along the Bayou Terrebonne to Thibodaux.
     Court, in the early days of the parish, was held in a little building on Bayou Cane.  On May 10th, 1834, Richard H. Grinage and Hubert M. Belanger donated to the Parish of Terrebonne the property on which the present courthouse and other public buildings are situated.  This land was valued at that time at $150.  The land on each side of this was laid off into town lots, and the town of Houma came into existence, bearing the name of the Indian tribe that lived and loved and worshipped amongst its groves, the ancient Houmas, which means “The Sun.”
     From Bayou Cane the court house was moved to a building in the public square.  Court was afterward held in a two-story building in the center of the block between Church and Grinage streets, on the North side of Main street, and afterwards in a two-story building corner of Main and Grinage street in the same block.
A one-story brick building, now forming part of the present structure, was begun shortly before the war, but work was abandoned at the beginning of that momentous event, and the building was not completed until 1875.  In 1892 the present commodious and beautiful edifice was completed, the old one-story building having been utilized in its construction.  It is one of the prettiest structures of its kind in the State.
     The first building erected in Houma is said to have been built at the corner of Court and Church streets; two or three others were constructed nearly at the same time.  Edmond Guidry, who died in Lower Terrebonne about two years ago, worked as a carpenter on these first buildings.
     In 1870 the Houma Branch Railroad was built, connecting Houma with New Orleans by rail.  Before that a stage line was run between Houma and Thibodaux, and freight was transported in barges or flat boats.
Houma’s elegant Opera House was erected in 1896, by Houma Fire Co. No. 1, at a cost of $8,000.  This fire company was organized in 1872, and has distinguished itself on many occasions.  It is provided with one of the best steamers and with other equipments for fighting fire.
     Houma Hook and Ladder Co. was organized in 1888.  This company owns a hall, truck and ladders, a Babcock and other equipments, and is an efficient body of fire fighters.
     The hotels are the Bazet Hotel, Commercial Hotel, Sanders Hotel and Breaux’s House, which afford ample accommodation for the traveling public.
     Jastremski & Wilson’s Ice Factory supply the home market with ice.  C. P. Smith & Co., operate a saw and shingle mill, and A. C. Daspit is about to erect another saw and shingle mill.
     Emile Daigle, runs a steamboat and transportation line between Houma and Lower Terrebonne.  Most of the sugar and molasses made by the refineries and sugar-houses along Bayou Terrebonne are brought to the Southern Pacific depot here by his steamboat “Harry” and barges.
     The oyster shipping industry of this place has assumed large proportions.  The coasts of our parish abound with the most delicious of this species of bivalve.  The oyster beds of Terrebonne not only supply the Houma Shipping Establishments, but most of the oysters forwarded from Morgan City come from this parish.  Houma will soon be the principal oyster shipping point of the gulf coast.  Its nearness to the oyster beds, place it in an advantageous position as a distributing point and the superiority of its oysters are shipped to all parts of the United States west of the Mississippi river, some are shipped as far south as the City of Mexico, while some compete with the Baltimore, east of the river.  25,000,000 oysters were shipped from Houma last season..  The principal shipping depots are the Houma Fish and Oyster Co., Ltd., Davidson & Avery, Daspit & Celestin, G. Wolf & Co., W. J. Gaidry and E. Ghirardi. 
     Houma has several good schools presided over by capable teachers, two banks.  The Bank of Houma and the People’s Bank, and two newspapers, the Houma Courier and the Terrebonne Times, and is connected with the rest of the world by telegraph. 
     A proposition will be submitted to the taxpayers of the town to tax themselves for waterworks and electric lights at an election to be held on the second Tuesday in January, 1898.
     The town was incorporated March 16, 1848, and reincorporated, February 18th, 1878.  The following is a list of mayors to date:  F. S. Goode, Joseph Aycock, Justin Chauvin, John Berger, Thomas J. Hargis, A. S. Helmick, Felix Daspit, Joseph Dupart, Charles Tennant, Dr. H. M. Wallis, John A. Hubbard, I. M. Price, M. F. Smith, Ernest Picou, and the present mayor, J. C. Dupont.  Its population according to the census of 1890 was 1220.  Newtown in the rear of Houma had a population of 456.  The present population of Houma and its suburbs is about 3000.
     A great many improvements are contemplated by the town and its citizens in the near future.  Among them is a $7,000 Castle Hall, to be erected on Main Street, by the Knights of Pythias.
     Large swamps of cypress timber abound in the Parish of Terrebonne, and several large saw mills furnish employment to a great many men, and is the source of considerable revenue.
     Ash, oak, gum, willow and various other species of trees are still plentiful, though large inroads have been made into the timber of later years.
     The Spanish moss grows luxuriously in the swamps, and large quantities of it are prepared annually and sent to the New Orleans market and sold.
     The bayous, lakes and bays abound in the choicest of fresh and salt water fish of various species.  Ducks, quail, snipe, doves, and other game birds are hunted successfully; the former being very plentiful during the fall and winter season.  Deer used to be plentiful; a few still remain; and bear have almost disappeared.  The alligator is hunted for his hide, and thousands of sea gulls and terns are killed annually, and form an article of commerce.
     Sugar, molasses and rice, are the principal agricultural products, and corn, hay, potatoes and cotton are produced, and fruit grows in abundance.
     “The Parish of Terrebonne is one of the largest sugar producing parishes in the state.”