Louisiana
Buying Land in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
St. Bernard Parish -- immediately downriver and downwind of New Orleans, anchored by Chalmette -- has a deep Isleño settlement history and sits at the site of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. It's also the parish where Hurricane Katrina's flooding was most catastrophic, and where a single Army Corps shipping canal became a defining, decades-long story in how that happened.
A parish with deep roots, right next to New Orleans
St. Bernard Parish sits immediately downriver of New Orleans, anchored by Chalmette as its parish seat and largest community. The parish has a distinctive settlement history: Spanish Canary Islanders -- the Isleños -- settled here starting in the 1770s, and their descendants' fishing, trapping, and Spanish-language cultural heritage remains a real, documented part of the parish's identity in communities like Delacroix and St. Bernard village, preserved today partly through the Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society. The parish is also home to Chalmette National Historical Park, the site of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, one of the best-known battles of the War of 1812.
Hurricane Katrina and the MRGO: the defining flood-risk story here
St. Bernard Parish experienced some of the most catastrophic, near-total flooding of any Louisiana parish during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A central, well-documented part of that story is the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), a deep shipping canal the US Army Corps of Engineers built in the 1960s connecting the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans's Industrial Canal. Extensive post-storm study and litigation found that MRGO's design funneled storm surge directly into St. Bernard Parish and the adjacent Lower Ninth Ward, amplifying the flooding beyond what would otherwise have occurred, and eroded surrounding wetlands that would have naturally buffered surge over the decades before the storm. In response, the canal was deauthorized for continued shipping use and closed off with a rock barrier structure built at its Gulf-facing end. See the dedicated flood-zones standalone below for more on this history and what it means for evaluating land in the parish today.
Coastal wetlands, fishing communities, and the parish's lower reaches
St. Bernard Parish sits within Louisiana's statutorily defined Coastal Zone, and its lower, more rural communities -- Yscloskey, Delacroix, Shell Beach, and the marsh country around them -- remain tied to commercial and recreational fishing, shrimping, and trapping in a way that reflects the parish's Isleño heritage. Land use in this part of the parish is shaped as much by marsh and open-water access as by conventional zoning, and a Coastal Use Permit from the state's Office of Coastal Management generally applies on top of ordinary parish review for uses affecting coastal waters or wetlands here. Anyone evaluating land in the lower parish should get a formal wetlands determination where boundary status isn't obviously settled, rather than relying on a visual read of the land.
Zoning and land records: more developed near Chalmette, thinner further out
Zoning and permitting are more developed in and around Chalmette and the more urbanized upper parish than in the lower, marsh-adjacent communities -- confirm directly with St. Bernard Parish Government which rules apply to a specific parcel. Land records, successions, and mortgages are recorded with the St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court, and given how much property in the parish changed hands, was rebuilt, or passed through inheritance after Katrina, a full title examination matters more here than in most parishes -- both for ordinary succession reasons under Louisiana's forced-heirship rules, and because post-storm rebuilding activity can leave permitting or elevation-compliance history worth confirming directly with the parish.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in St. Bernard Parish
Department names reflect St. Bernard Parish's general government structure; specific websites, phone numbers, and current staff were not independently confirmed via live web access this pass -- verify directly before relying on them.
Planning & Zoning
St. Bernard Parish Government -- Department of Planning & Zoning
Parish zoning, subdivision review, and building-permit questions for a specific parcel.
Other
Louisiana Office of Coastal Management
Coastal Use Permit requirements for a parcel located within the Coastal Zone.
Septic / Onsite Wastewater
Louisiana Department of Health -- Office of Public Health (St. Bernard Parish Health Unit)
Individual sewerage system (septic) permits.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court
Recorded deeds, mortgages, servitudes, and succession records affecting a specific parcel.
Want to know if this specific parcel actually works?
Tell us what you're looking at and we'll connect you with a local land specialist who can help you sanity-check it before you go further.
Get local guidanceTopics Specific to St. Bernard Parish
Sources
- Hurricane Katrina — National Hurricane Center / NOAA (accessed 2026-09)
- Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Ecosystem Restoration — US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (accessed 2026-09)
- Chalmette Battlefield and Chalmette National Cemetery — National Park Service (Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve) (accessed 2026-09)
- R.S. 49:214.24 -- Coastal Zone Boundary — Louisiana State Legislature (accessed 2026-09)
- St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana — 64 Parishes (Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities) (accessed 2026-09)
- National Flood Hazard Layer / Flood Map Service Center — Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09