Pierre Part, Louisiana the mid-twentieth century. Before the Great Depression, the inhabitants of Pierre Part were fishermen; after the Depression, many men of the town were forced to find work in other fields including logging, levee building, and the growing petroleum industry in Louisiana. Fewer people continue the traditional ways of fishing and living off the land with each generation. Pierre Part experienced flooding when the Morganza Spillway was opened during the 1973 Mississippi River flooding. The people of Pierre Part are predominantly of French ancestry, of families who either came directly from France or those whose came from Canada (Acadia), and before
Western Center of the Western Center during the 1960s, wrote a book based on his experiences. In the book, Stuart describes the history of abuse and neglect that the Western Center had become known for. In fact, during the 1950s and 1960s, local parents seeking to discipline their children threatened to send them to "Morganza" if they did not behave. In 2014, Christopher R Barraclough, wrote a book ,Morganza: Pennsylvania's Reform School, about the history of the reform school. Morganza: Pennsylvania's Reform School is part of the "Images of America" series books published by Arcadia Publishing. Western Center Western State School and