Why parishes? The story behind Louisiana's unique map

http://www.nola.com/300/2017/09/why_does_louisiana_have_parishes_09082017.html#incart_river_home_pop

THEN: In 1816, four years after Louisiana was admitted to the Union, the first official state map used the term "parishes" to denote local governmental units, acknowledging a church-based system that the state's French and Spanish founders -- all Catholic men - had set up in colonial times. But the tale leading to that point is hardly straightforward. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the territorial legislative council divided what would become the state of Louisiana into 12 counties that more or less coincided with the colonial parishes. On March 31, 1807, the territorial legislature created 19 parishes without abolishing the existing counties, which continued to exist until 1845.

NOW: Louisiana is the only state to divide itself into parishes instead of counties. There are 64 parishes, but they didn't spring into existence all at once when Louisiana joined the Union. The last three -- Allen, Beauregard and Jefferson Davis parishes -- were created in 1912 from parts of Calcasieu Parish, following close on the heels of Evangeline Parish, which had been part of St. Landry Parish until 1910, and La Salle Parish, which was separated from Catahoula Parish in 1908.

N.O. DNA: The fact that Louisiana has parishes instead of counties is yet another way in which the state is distinctive. It's something the state's residents accept as a normal part of life, like red beans and rice on Mondays and chicory in coffee, and they probably don't bother to think about it until someone from out of town asks where the counties are, providing an opportunity for a discussion of the state's deep, rich history.