Belle Chasse, Louisiana
| Belle Chasse | |
| Census-designated place | |
 Belle Chasse Auditorium
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| Country | United States Of America |
|---|---|
| State | Louisiana |
| Parish | Plaquemines |
| Elevation | 7 ft (2.1 m) |
| Coordinates | 29°51′08″N 89°59′54″W / 29.85222°N 89.99833°WCoordinates: 29°51′08″N 89°59′54″W / 29.85222°N 89.99833°W |
| Area | 28.4 sq mi (73.6 km2) |
| - land | 24.9 sq mi (64 km2) |
| - water | 3.5 sq mi (9 km2), 12.32% |
| Population | 12,679 (2010) |
| Density | 446.4/sq mi (172.4/km2) |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Area code | 504 |
  Location of Belle Chasse in Louisiana
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 Location of Louisiana in the United States
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Belle Chasse is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Belle Chasse is part of the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area. The population was 12,679 at the 2010 census.
Belle Chasse is the largest town in Plaquemines Parish.
Belle Chasse is home to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, a Naval Air Station for the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Belle Chasse is home to the famous "Orange Fest," "Crawfish Fest," and "Gamers Fest." It is also home to the Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival.
Shooting Range, Dirt-Bike/Four-Wheeler "The Track", Cypress Parks (Baseball, SoftBall, Soccer, Football).
There is little consensus regarding the origin of the name Belle Chasse. In French, belle chasse literally means "beautiful hunting." It is widely believed that it was so named due to the richness of wildlife which the initial French colonists observed when they settled in the region. Others say that Belle Chasse was named after a Colonel Joseph D. Bellechasse, who lived in New Orleans around the late 18th and early 19th century. Alternatively, it was named after the plantation of Deville de Goutin Bellechasse.
The Confederate Judah P. Benjamin was the most famous owner of the Belle Chasse plantation. After falling into decay and abandonment by the 1930s, the landmark plantation house was demolished in 1960. The bell was salvaged and today is in front of the Belle Chasse Public Library.
The Naval Air Station was founded in 1920 on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, but in 1957 it relocated to its current location (Belle Chasse, Louisiana). It has been designated as a Joint Forces Reserve Air Station. It is home to various naval air units as well as an Air Force Reserve fighter squadron and a Marine Corps Reserve helicopter unit. In March 2009, U.S. Navy Reserve Airborne Early Warning Squadron 77 (VAW-77) relocated its six E-2C aircraft from NAS Atlanta, GA to Belle Chasse. The squadron routinely deploys to the Caribbean on counter-narcotic operations. The squadron aircrew are all U.S. Naval Reservists while the maintenance department for the aircraft is run by Northrop Grumman Field Services.
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Wikipedia