In 1682, French explorers René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri de Tonti traveled the entire length of the Mississippi River and as their expedition passed what is present-day Hahnville on the west bank; they encountered indigenous Quinipissa villagers.

[5] It was discovered that the Quinapissa had joined the indigenous Mougoulacha and they later moved to the east bank of the river to form one village with the Bayougoula near L’Anse aux Outardes.

[5] As early as 1718, John Law and the Company of the Indies began recruiting French settlers to settle Louisiana (New France), though not specifically to what would become the German Coast.

Roughly four thousand individuals (four hundred and fifty families) mostly from the Rhineland, but also from Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Swedish Pomerania, Alsace–Lorraine, Belgium, and Switzerland traveled across France to Lorient in Brittany and then made the voyage to Louisiana on March 7, 1721.

[9][10] The settlers arrived in Old Biloxi on June 4, 1721, and on December 15, 1721, French Governor Bienville issued an order for boats to transport the recently arrived German-speaking settlers including newly named Commandant Charles Frederic d'Arensbourg, born Karl Friedrich von Arensburg, to the already established villages of Hoffen, Marienthal, and Augsburg on the west bank of the Mississippi River.

[10] The settlers left for the settlements in January 1722 and of the roughly four thousand individuals that initially began the trip in Europe, when they reached their port of embarkation in March 1722, a Company of the Indies official counted only three hundred and thirty settlers because many of them perished due to the harsh conditions of their long journey to Louisiana.

[9] d'Arensbourg's land grant concession on the west bank of the river near present-day Taft, was named Karlstein after him and with its founding, the original four settlements in "les Allemands" were established.

[12] Later in 1722 and 1723, some French and German settlers along with newly arrived Canadians moved across the Mississippi River to establish the first east bank settlement at L’Anse aux Outardes or Bustard’s Cove.

[12] The tributary at this site connected the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain via a previously discovered system of waterways through the LaBranche Wetlands.

[12] The ecclesiastical parish and chapel, La Paroisse de St. Jean des Allemands, was also founded in 1723 in Karlstein.

[15] It is apparent from these records that from the beginning of their settlement, German Coast farmers were a major source of food for the city of New Orleans.

[15] The granting of additional lands in 1722 and 1723, led to the founding of the Second German Coast in 1730 and the establishment of officially having settlements on both banks of the Mississippi River.

[16] In 1731, as the first decade of settlement on the German Coast ended and the Company of the Indies charter was retrieved by France, Louisiana again became a French colony.

[15] The land farmed by settlers on the German Coast technically belonged to the Company of the Indies until France retrieved its charter.

[15] In 1740, the ecclesiastical parish and chapel relocated to the present-day site of the church in Destrehan on the east bank of the Mississippi River.

At the beginning of the Spanish colonial period, many Acadians, people of French descent, began arriving in south Louisiana after being expelled by the British from what is now Nova Scotia after the British took over French territory in Canada along with North American territory east of the Mississippi river.

[18] The early 18th century settlers in the area received land grants from the Spanish or French royal governments, depending upon which country ruled the territory at the time of application.

In addition to ground transportation, goods were mainly shipped by boat on bayous and lakes and also via the Mississippi River.

The remaining property extended away from the river into the wetlands, where land was cleared for cultivation of sugar cane and indigo.

[29] Starting in the 20th century, the area of the German Coast and location of the first permanent settlement of Acadians in Louisiana began to be referred to as the "River Parishes".

[31] In 1914, land in Destrehan was sold to the Mexican Petroleum Company, which began operating an oil refinery in 1918, marking the first appearance of heavy industry in the parish.

[34] Between 1929 and 1931, the Bonnet Carré Spillway, a flood control structure was built and allows floodwaters from the Mississippi River to flow into Lake Pontchartrain.

[34] The first appearance of industry on the west bank came in 1952 when the Lion Oil Company began construction of their facility in Luling.

496, June 6, 1971, authored by Carl W. Bauer of St. Mary Parish), and made the "Heart of Acadiana" the official name of the region.

[44] In 1985, the Louisiana Power and Light Company began operation of the Waterford Nuclear Generating Station on Charles Frédérique d'Arensbourg's original land grant of Karlstein.

[49] The levee protects the majority of the east bank from Lake Pontchartrain and Labranche Wetlands flood waters.

[62] In common with much of southern Louisiana, Christianity through the Roman Catholic Church has been the largest religious group for the parish.

Upper secondary education St. Charles Parish is in the service area of Delgado Community College.