Houma, Louisiana

Houma is the largest, but not the oldest settlement in Terrebonne. In 1829, a town at Bayou Cane was founded (three miles up the bayou from Houma) by William Watkins. The settlement was called Williamsburg.
After the founder (Watkins) died, the people changed the name to Bayou Cane. Williamsburg (Bayou Cane) was the first official parish seat and the first court was held here at that time. The parish seat was moved to Houma in 1834.

"Settlement and Organization of Houma:" (Excerpts Margrette Watkins thesis) The roots of Houma go back to the period of 1792-1797. During this period Joseph Hache, an Opelousas farmer was given a land grant by the Spanish government under Carlos (Charles) IV. The grant in Terrebonne was the beginning of Houma -- a village in the heart of the grant.
Hache retained control of the grant when Spain ceded Louisiana to France in 1800 and later when the United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803. Hache and his heirs sold the grant to Brigitte Belanger, widow of Henry Schuyler Thibodaux. She sold part of the grant, later to become Houma, to Francois Belanger who in turn sold it to Hubert M. Belanger and Richard H. Grinage.
In 1834, Belanger and Grinage donated to the parish, a part of the land. This was the beginning of Houma -- a virgin forest of moss-draped cypress, ash, tupelo, and maple. The land was soon cleared and a little French village emerged.
Tobias Gibson, Terrebonne sugar planter, suggested the village be named Houma, although no Indians lived inside this forest area at the time. The nearest Indians to Houma were a band of Houmas living at Whiskey Point, not far from the white settlement at Bayou Cane. The Houmas used thatched-roof huts made out of palmettos which grew wild in the swamplands.
On March 16, 1848, the little 14-year-old village became incorporated and elected N. H. Rightor as its first mayor. He served from 1848-1856. In 1860, Houma's limits were extended and the trustees (aldermen) given strong taxing powers. In 1878 the state legislature repealed the old act of incorporation, and Houma was re-incorporated under a new act providing for changes in the system of government and again extending the city boundaries. By 1899, Houma moved across the bayou and spread out in all directions. Boundaries were extended farther in 1914, 1958, and 1961.
Today Houma extends far beyond the Hache Grant with an area of several square miles. The City of Houma is situated on the junction of five bayous and the Intracoastal Canal. Elward Wright served the longest as mayor (1928-1946) and Harry Hellier served the longest as solon (alderman) from 1904-1945 -- a total of 41 years with eight mayors.
Houma serves as a clearing house for Terrebonne's agricultural, fishing, oil and trapping activities.
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