| Montegut | |
| Settlement Type: | CDP |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Louisiana |
| Subdivision Type2: | Parish |
| Subdivision Name2: | Terrebonne |
| Pushpin Map: | Louisiana |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Montegut in Louisiana |
| Coordinates: | 29.4736°N -90.5553°W |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 11.70 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 4.52 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 4.21 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.31 |
| Elevation Ft: | 7 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 1465 |
| Population Density Km2: | 134 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 348 |
| Timezone1: | CST |
| Utc Offset1: | -6 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -5 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 70377[2] |
| Area Code: | 985 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 22-51550 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Land Km2: | 10.90 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.80 |
Montegut is a census-designated place (CDP) in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,540 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Houma - Bayou Cane - Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area. Montegut was the primary filming location for the 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Motegut developed around a sugar mill founded in 1883. Named by Congressman Edward James Gay when the post office was opened in 1885, it honored Gabriel Montegut, a prominent resident of parish seat Houma.[3]
The 1941 WPA guide to Louisiana reported an elevation of 8 feet and population of 200.[4]
Montegut is located at (29.473700, -90.555381).[5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.5 square miles (11.8 km), of which 4.5 square miles (11.6 km) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km) (1.54%) is water.
| Number | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 1,093 | 74.61% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 27 | 1.84% | |
| Native American | 176 | 12.01% | |
| Asian | 5 | 0.34% | |
| Pacific Islander | 1 | 0.14% | |
| Other/Mixed | 131 | 8.94% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 31 | 2.12% |
Terrebonne Parish School District operates public schools.[6] Montegut Elementary School and Montegut Middle School are in the community.[7]
École Pointe-au-Chien, a public school (non-district) in Pointe-aux-Chenes,[8] has a Montegut postal address, though it is not in the Montegut CDP.[9] It was the former Pointe-aux-Chenes Elementary School, a Terrebonne Parish public school which closed in 2021.[8]
The parish is in the service area of Fletcher Technical Community College.[10] Additionally, a Delgado Community College document stated that Terrebonne Parish was in the college's service area.[11]
The 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild was filmed in Montegut. Director Benh Zeitlin and his crew worked out of an abandoned gas station in town. They built the film's fictional settlement—the "Bathtub"—by hand with found artifacts and rusted-out equipment from the surrounding area.[12] The film was nominated for four Academy Awards.