In starting a blog, one may think of what would be the best topic for a first post. I have decided to make it about my hometown, Golden Meadow, Louisiana. Golden Meadow is located on Bayou Lafourche, Louisiana in Lafourche Parish and has an interesting history behind it. It has a population of about 2,700 and the people are mostly of French descent. English was not widely spoken there before the 1950's and the old French dialect can still be heard by the older generation. Golden Meadow is truly a world apart even from other Louisiana communities.
Located about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, Golden Meadow is a fairly isolated community, in a sense it is like an island. It's an island located in the wetlands that abounds in life. You don't even have to try to catch a good sized fish like a red drum or a speckled trout, the water abounds with them. Fishing is a way of life in this community not just for recreation, but for a way of living. Even though the fishermen do not get the price they used to, many still make a good living fishing shrimp, crabs, oysters to this day.
Shrimp boats.
The town has a close knit village atmosphere and is a place where everyone seems to know everyone. Surrounded by marsh, there was limited amount of space to build the community over time, so the people build their homes and businesses lining the bayou. Everything is close together and never more than a 15 minute bike ride away, lots of times, I don't even bother getting in my truck to go where I want to go if the weather's nice.
Many of the buildings were build in the oil boom of the 1930's.
This unique place has a rich history and is one of the few places that is not really on anyone's radar even in the Information Age of the 21st Century, that is slowly changing though. About 25 miles south is a massive deep water port being developed for the offshore oil drilling industry. Port Fourchon is bringing changes and prosperity to this little place as many of the people have businesses that are related to the port. As time progresses, will the port bring massive changes to Golden Meadow, or will it it simply supplement what makes it a unique place? Golden Meadow has an uncertain but bright future ahead in my opinion.
Work boats servicing the oil field in Port Fourchon.
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