This area along the Mississippi River is commonly called the " German Coast" or the French "cote des Allemands". It was first settled by German immigrants in 1720 who found not the promised land, but a swampy cypress wilderness that had to be cleared by hand. They persevered, and were joined in 1760 by the French Acadians who were expelled from Nova Scotia.

Prior to their arrival, Native Americans lived here, including the Chitimacha, Tunica, and Houmas. When the French arrived in 1862, they established two forts, which were left in the hands of the Native Americans

The parish was the scene of annual flooding by the Mississippi until in 1763 attempts were begun to control the river. In 1928 the US Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the Bonnet Carre Spillway enabling floodwaters to be diverted into nearby Lake Ponchartrain preventing these floods

For more information about St Charles Parish, see http://stcharlesgov.net/index.aspx?page=198