| Taft | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Louisiana |
| Subdivision Type2: | Parish |
| Subdivision Name2: | St. Charles |
| Pushpin Map: | Louisiana |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Taft in Louisiana |
| Coordinates: | 29.9914°N -90.4481°W |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 14.60 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 5.64 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 4.98 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.66 |
| Elevation Ft: | 7 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 61 |
| Population Density Km2: | 4.73 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 12.24 |
| Timezone1: | CST |
| Utc Offset1: | -6 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -5 |
| Area Code: | 985 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 22-74550 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2402911 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Land Km2: | 12.90 |
| Area Water Km2: | 1.70 |
Taft is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States, located on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
Taft is the location of a phosphate processing facility owned by The Mosaic Company (formerly IMC-Agrico); the Dow/Union Carbide Taft/Star Petrochemical Plant, which produces a variety of organic chemicals such as acrolein, acrylic acid, and acetaldehyde; and part of the Waterford Nuclear Generating Station owned by Entergy Corporation. Virtually all of the land is now zoned as heavy industrial.[2]
Taft was the original site of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, which served Taft, Killona and Hahnville. The church was built in 1877, and in 1963, it moved to Hahnville. The cemetery is still in Taft and is still used as a burial ground by the church. It is bounded on three sides by the Dow chemical facilities.
Population was 700 when the first post office opened in 1905, and it remained in operation until 1967. By 1977, only 36 people lived in Taft.[3]
In December, 1982, a major explosion occurred at the Union Carbide facility about 30 miles from New Orleans, causing nearly 17,000 people to evacuate.[4] [5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2sqmi, of which 1.7sqmi is land and 0.3sqmi is water. The CDP is located on the Mississippi River, across from Norco and Montz.
The CDP first appeared in the 2000 census with a total population of zero.
| White alone (NH) | 0 | 61 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 50 | 0.00% | 96.83% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 81.97% | |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 2 | 0.00% | 0.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 3.28% | |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 1 | 0.00% | 0.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 1.64% | |
| Asian alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0.00% | |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0.00% | |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 0 | 0 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 0.00% | |
| Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH) | 0 | 0 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 4 | 0.00% | 0.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 6.56% | |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 0 | 2 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 4 | 0.00% | 3.17 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 6.56% | |
| Total | 0 | 63 | style='background: #ffffe6; | 61 | 100.00% | 100.00% | style='background: #ffffe6; | 100.00% |