Slaughter, LA

Slaughter is an East Feliciana Parish town on the southern edge of the parish beside Zachary and within the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 1,035 residents. Its name arrived through a series of railroad-era changes. The area was first called Belzara for its post office, then Burnsville after the surveyor who cut the railroad right-of-way. When the line and depot were finished, the station and post office took the Slaughter name from landowners Will and Joe Slaughter. The town incorporated in 1889.

That history still gives Slaughter a clear local shape: Church Street, Railroad Avenue, the town hall, fire station, and schools sit in a small community that grew around the line. Slaughter Elementary and Slaughter Community Charter School serve the town, while East Feliciana Parish and nearby Zachary pull residents into a wider service and work area. The name gets the first laugh, but the railroad story is the real key. Belzara, Burnsville, and Slaughter are three labels left behind by a post office, a right-of-way, and a depot.