Why do state officials and reporters refer to counties in Louisiana as "parishes?"?

Question

Interesting. Alaska wasn't originally an English settlement either, but they still fall in line with the rest of the US and call their divisions counties. Sounds pretentious on the part of Louisiana.

Answer 1

Instead of using traditional English terminology, they based it on church subdivisions which were called parishes. Louisiana was not originally an English settlement, it was French.

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_p...

Answer 3

They call them Parishes because of the French heritage Louisiana has.  It's penal code is also based on the Napoleonic code rather than Common Law.  Check out this website for some more facts.

Have fun!  Mistress Dolly