Evangeline parish was created from lands formerly belonging to St. Landry Parish in 1910. The area was originally settled by French, German, Spanish and Scots-Irish people. The majority were French, former soldiers from Fort Toulouse, and generations born there were originally called Creoles. The major families were Fontenot, LaToure, Guillory, Lafleur, and Brignac. The Creoles developed a culture that was a mixture of all the ethnic groups living in the area. A few Acadians settled the area, but outsiders mistakenly labeled all the white French people as Cajuns. Major families of non-French descent were Whittington, Haas, Thompson, Johnson, Whatley, Oliver and Walker.
Evangeline Parish has a rich history from earlier years when it was part of St. Landry Parish, which was one of the original parishes. You can find additional ancestry information for your research on the Evangeline Parish Archives, the St. Landry Parish LAGenWeb and the St. Landry Parish Archives web sites.
The parish was named Evangeline in honor of the Acadian people who lived further south. Their history had been commemorated in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem, Evangeline. Evangeline Parish was immortalized in the Randy Newman song "Louisiana 1927", in which he described the Great Mississippi Flood which covered it with six feet of water.
In 1890, there were almost no roads and few bridges causing the distance of 30-40 miles to the parish seat of Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, a hardship for many people to travel to pay their taxes, attend court, etc. Talk began of forming a new parish from St. Landry. In 1908, one of the political issues was the formation of a new parish. Y. L. (Yves Leon) Fontenot, from Ville Platte, LA, introduced a bill requesting the formation of this new parish. This new bill passed the house and on January 1, 1911 the new parish was created from St. Landry Parish.
The parish seat is Ville Platte, which is French for "Flat Town". Ville Platte was founded by Major Marcellin Garand, a veteran of Napoleon's Army who established a tavern for thirsty travelers headed for Natchitoches along the old Camino Real ("Royal Road"), also known as the Spanish Trail. Ville Platte has been officially designated by the Louisiana Legislature as the "Swamp Pop Capital of the World". This is in recognition of the town's long, rich history of developing swamp pop music including artists such as the Boogie Kings, Rod Bernard, Tommy McLain, Joe Barry, Jivin Gene, Johnnie Allan, and Warren Storm.
