Welcome to the Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Software Website!
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana was established in 1825 and was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, commemorating his role in purchasing the Louisiana territory from France in 1803. The Parish originally extended from present day Felicity Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the St. Charles Parish line. As Orleans Parish grew, it annexed from Jefferson Parish such established areas as the Garden District, Lafayette, Jefferson, and Carrollton. The present boundary was set in 1874, and in 1884 the seat of Parish government was transferred to the West Bank, Gretna, where it has remained.
Once a largely rural area of farms, dairies and vast tracts of undeveloped land, Jefferson Parish today is New Orleans' first suburb - a bedroom community west of the city that received the first great migration of middle-class families from the 1950's to the 1970's.
The parish's largest community is Metairie, an unincorporated area that comprises almost all of East Jefferson. Smaller unincorporated areas include River Ridge and Jefferson. Jefferson Parish is divided by the Mississippi River into the West Bank and East Bank areas. East Jefferson cities include Kenner and Harahan, while Gretna, Westwego, and Lafitte are in West Jefferson.
-quoted from here