The Cameron Parish Courthouse at 119 Smith Circle was built in 1937 with federal Public Works Administration money, and its walls are twelve inches of solid concrete. On June 27, 1957, Hurricane Audrey came ashore in Cameron Parish earlier than residents expected, and many had assumed it would not strike until that night. A surge of about 20 feet struck Cameron, Creole, Grand Chenier, Holly Beach and other settlements. Most of the town had been evacuated, but people who stayed went to the courthouse and other buildings, and hundreds took refuge in it.
Audrey killed more than 400 people in all, and one count puts 371 of the dead in and around the town of Cameron. The courthouse took four to five feet of water in its basement, but the clerk's office on the second floor stayed dry and the parish records survived. For several weeks afterward it served as a multipurpose building, since little else could be used. The waterline was still visible on its walls at the storm's 50th anniversary.
The courthouse was standing after Hurricane Rita in 2005, which brought a surge of 17.8 feet to Cameron and destroyed most of the town, and it was hit again by Ike in 2008. Laura came ashore near Cameron on August 27, 2020. The town's population fell from 1,965 in 2000 to 315 in 2020. After a renovation that restored its original details, the parish held a rededication on the courthouse steps at 9 a.m. on September 24, 2019, the anniversary of Rita, open to the public. It remains a working courthouse.
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Roadside plaques and monuments within a short detour