Morgan City is a city in St. Martin and St. Mary parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 12,404 at the 2010 census. The St. Mary Parish portion of Morgan City is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the small St. Martin Parish portion is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Morgan City sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River. Morgan City was originally called Tiger Island by surveyors appointed by U.S. Secretary of War John Calhoun because of a particular type of wild cat seen in the area. It was later called Brashear City after... Walter Brashear, a prominent Kentucky physician who purchased large tracts of land and acquired numerous sugar mills. It was incorporated in 1860 as Brashear City. During the American Civil War Star Fort, also known as Fort Brashear was the larger of two works erected by the Union Army occupying the city to defend a Federal military depot and the town. During the Bayou Teche Campaign, on the night of June 22, 1863, 325 Confederates of Gen. A. A. Mouton's command led by Major Sherod Hunter landed their skiffs and flats in the rear of the town.
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