Every state in the United States, except Louisiana, has its political subdivisions designated as counties. In Louisiana a county is called a parish because when Louisiana became a state, Louisiana disliked the county system. That is only one of the many unique features found about Louisiana. Another unique feature is that Louisiana is the only state wherein is practiced the Roman law. All other states practice the English Common Law.
Evangeline Parish was created as a separate political unit carved out of ‘Imperial’ St. Landry Parish which originally extended from the Atchafalaya River to the Sabine River which is the boundary line between Texas and Louisiana.
Several other parishes like Cameron, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Allen, and Beauregard were likewise created when population centers began to boom in "Imperial" St. Landry Parish.
Evangeline Parish was created by an Act of Legislature in 1911. The name ‘Evangeline’ was selected as a tribute to Evangeline, the young Acadian lass made famous by the noted poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Records show that the Evangeline Parish area is one of the oldest inhabited areas of Louisiana. Original records applicable to the Evangeline area may be found in records at Opelousas -- such records as sale of slaves, marriage contracts. Documentation of the sale of slaves and movable property as early as 1787 may be found at Opelousas and in the archives of Louisiana land sales.
Evangeline Parish is part of Southwest Louisiana, which, before the coming of the white man, was a hunting ground of the Attakapas Indians. Those Indians were apparently warlike because there has never been found any indication that they were friendly.
Evangeline Parish, as was the rest of Louisiana proper, was first claimed for France by Robert Cavalier Sieur de LaSalle in 1682. But, in 1762, it was transferred from France to Spain. In 1800 Napoleon got Spain to turn over the Louisiana Territory back to France. Literally speaking, Napoleon said he wanted to borrow the territory for a while. Instead of giving it back to Spain, however, he sold it to the United States. Consequently, you'll find "beaucoup" French descendents as well as Spanish in all of South Louisiana, which, naturally, includes Evangeline Parish. It was during the Spanish rule that the Evangeline Parish area was first developed as an outgrowth from a trading post established at Opelousas in 1765.
The main artery, or road, from New Orleans to Natchitoches, central Louisiana's oldest city, ran through the center of what is now Evangeline Parish. It was the Spanish Camino Real (Royal Road), which road, beyond Natchitoches, extended to California. Two U.S. highways, 167 and 190, and Interstate 49 are the main highways of Evangeline Parish today.
Along the Camino Real road developed numerous settlements or communities such as Ville Platte, which is today's seat of government, and the community of Bayou Chicot, which means ‘Stump Bayou’ in English. Other incorporated cities in Evangeline Parish include: Mamou, Basile, Pine Prarie, Reddell, Turkey Creek and Chataignier.
Historians claim that Spanish rule did more for the people of Louisiana than did French rule, but it was Napoleon who was responsible for the fact that Roman Law is now practiced in the state, a unique feature as mentioned above.
When Evangeline Parish was created in 1911, Ville Platte was the dominant community. Mamou had just been founded and situated in the center of the parish and Basile in the extreme southwest corner thereof. Incidentally, Ville Platte was incorporated prior to the Civil War in 1858 to be exact.
Though they were well settled around the turn of the century, other Evangeline Parish communities were not incorporated until recently. These are Pine Prairie and Turkey Creek, located in the northern part of the parish and Chataignier at the extreme southern part. The population of Evangeline Parish is composed principally of French ancestry of which a large percentage speak Seventeenth Century French, and a notable sprinkling of Spanish in the Southern or plains portion. In the Northern part of the Parish most of the population is composed of people of English descent. This is especially true in the case of Pine Prairie, Turkey Creek, Bayou Chicot and the community of St. Landry, which is yet to be incorporated.
An important note for the history of Evangeline and St. Landry Parishes is the loss of most of the records in the Opelousas, St. Landry Parish courthouse in 1886.
"NEW ORLEANS, March 22. -- The courthouse at Opelousas, La, was burned to-day with the all the valuable records of the Supreme Court of Louisiana. The fire was incendiary in its origin and is believed to have been started for the purpose of destroying records in the courthouse on which important suits depend. There was a large amount of ammunition stored in the building by the Opelousas Rifles, whose armory was there, and this exploding in volley after volley kept the firemen from work. The loss is $50,000 and valuable documents that cannot be replaced.
Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX 23 Mar 1886."
The total population of Evangeline Parish in 2010 was 33,984. Mamou is currently the most populated city in Evangeline Parish.
Compiled in 1996, author unknown, when the population was 33,941. Submitted by Bryant Walker.
NOTE: My ancestors in Louisiana lived in the Bayou Chicot, Evangeline Parish area since about 1810. Many descendants still live there today.
