Reserve

History

Prior to the name Reserve, this town was called Bonnet Carre; the town name had been changed by businessman and resident Leon Godchaux by the late 1800s. The Godchaux–Reserve Plantation was built by Godchaux, and the oldest portion of the plantation home dates to 1764, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In the early 20th century, the plantation at Reserve had the largest sugarcane refinery in the United States, named Godchaux Sugar Refinery. President William Howard Taft visited Reserve and the Godchaux–Reserve Plantation in 1909. President Gerald Ford visited Reserve on September 25, 1976. In addition, in 2005 Our Lady of Grace Church, which dates back to 1937, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reported findings of the existence of an extremely high risk of cancer in the region and noted that Reserve was the epicenter of the area known as cancer alley. The agency identified releases of the chemical compound chloroprene as responsible for the high risk. This chemical compound was being released from the Pontchartrain Works facility, a manufacturing facility owned and operated for decades by DuPont and sold in 2015 to Denka of Japan. The facility is the only producer of the chemical in the United States.

Geography

Reserve is located at (30.062566, -90.553296). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 17.1 square miles (44.3 km), of which 16.1 square miles (41.6 km) is land and 1.0 square mile (2.7 km) (6.13%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  840
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  660
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  610
• Bald Eagle

  Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  518
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  501
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  486
• Anhinga

  Anhinga anhinga (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  445
• Snowy Egret

  Egretta thula (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  421

Largest nearby schools

• East St. John High School
  High · Reserve · 1,459 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• LaPlace Elementary School
  Elementary · LaPlace · 787 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School
  Elementary · LaPlace · 754 students · 18:1 ratio
• Emily C. Watkins Elementary
  Elementary · Laplace · 495 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• East St. John Preparatory Academy
  Middle · LaPlace · 392 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• John L. Ory Communications Magnet Elementary
  Elementary · LaPlace · 371 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• Fifth Ward Elementary School
  Elementary · Reserve · 362 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Garyville/Mt. Airy Math & Science Magnet Schl.
  Elementary · Garyville · 324 students · 11.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3 — 2010-08-02
  16 km ESE of Clinton, Louisiana
• M 3 — 2005-12-20
  9 km ESE of French Settlement, Louisiana