Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

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Evangeline Parish (Template:Langx) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Template:As of the population was 32,350.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The parish seat is Ville Platte.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The parish was created out of lands formerly belonging to St. Landry Parish in 1910.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The majority of the area was originally settled by French Canadian colonists and former colonial marines (coureurs de bois) from such outposts as Fort Toulouse and Fort Kaskaskia and later included 19th-century French-speaking soldiers and immigrant families.

The early generations were born in colonial French colonies, which included the enormous Louisiana territory ('Upper and Lower' Louisiana) known as "la Nouvelle France", and later were born under Spanish rule.

Many people of Evangeline are primarily of French, English, and Spanish descent from Louisiana's colonial period. Examples of the French family names are Fontenot, Brignac, Ardoin, Bordelon, Vidrine, Courville, Gaspard, LaFleur, Chataignier, Dupre, Berza, Manuel, Ratelle, Fuselier, Landreneau, Andrepont, Guillory, Soileau, LeBas, and Gobert, among others. People of Spanish Canary Islands heritage (Isleños) can be observed to have settled in the Parish as well, bringing names like Aguillard, Casaneuva, De Soto, Ortego, Rozas, and Segura. Many English Americans as colonists came from the Eastern United States to settle in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory often married into Acadian families. Some prominent English surnames include Chapman, Kershaw, Young, Reed, Langley, Tate and Buller.

A few Acadians such as François Pitre and his wife settled the area between Evangeline and St. Landry parishes, preferring the rich pre-American and pre–Civil War era Cajun planter's lifestyle over that of the humble and isolated existence of their Acadiana cousins.

The parish was named Evangeline in honor of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem, Evangeline. It was from this poem that founding father Paulin Fontenot was to propose the namesake of "Evangeline" for this parish, allegedly foreseeing an emerging American tourism centered upon the Acadian saga. (See Ville Platte Gazette, Sept. 2010) In 19th-century American literature, she would gain popularity through Hollywood's interest, and thus began the embryonic 'Acadian-based' tourism which sprang up in St. Martinville. Evangeline Parish is mentioned in the Randy Newman song "Louisiana 1927", in which he described the Great Mississippi Flood which covered it with six feet of water.

Ville Platte, Louisiana, the seat of Evangeline Parish, was itself so named by one of Napoleon Bonaparte's former soldiers, Adjutant Major Marcellin Garand (1781–1852), of Savoy, France. (See Napoleon's Soldiers In America, by Simone de la Souchere-Delery, 1999).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (2.5%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

Adjacent parishes

National protected area

State parks

Communities

Map of Evangeline Parish, with municipal labels

City

Towns

Villages

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

Demographics

Template:US Census population

2020 census

Evangeline Parish, Louisiana – Racial and ethnic composition
Template:Nobold
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 1980<ref name=1980Census>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 1990<ref name=1990Census>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 2020<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> % 1980 % 1990 % 2000 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 24,853 24,235 24,730 23,071 21,162 74.54% 72.83% 69.79% 67.89% 65.42%
Black or African American alone (NH) 7,856 8,645 10,041 9,565 8,609 23.56% 25.98% 28.34% 28.15% 26.61%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 19 30 75 98 45 0.06% 0.09% 0.21% 0.29% 0.14%
Asian alone (NH) 41 38 51 112 183 0.12% 0.11% 0.14% 0.33% 0.57%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census</ref> x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census</ref> 3 3 2 x x 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%
Other race alone (NH) 24 56 34 33 91 0.07% 0.17% 0.10% 0.10% 0.28%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) x <ref>not an option in the 1980 Census</ref> x <ref>not an option in the 1990 Census</ref> 132 326 922 x x 0.37% 0.96% 2.85%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 550 270 368 776 1,336 1.65% 0.81% 1.04% 2.28% 4.13%
Total 33,343 33,274 35,434 33,984 32,350 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 32,350 people, 12,172 households, and 7,739 families residing in the parish. The most reported ancestries were African American (14.4%), English (13.1%), French (7.1%), Cajun (2.9%), Irish (2.5%), and German (2.1%).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Public Schools in Evangeline Parish are operated by the Evangeline Parish School Board.

  • Bayou Chicot Elementary School (Grades PK-8) (Ville Platte)
  • Chataignier Elementary School (Grades PK-8) (Chataignier)
  • James Stephens Montessori School (Grades PK-6) (Ville Platte)
  • Mamou Elementary School (Grades PK-4) (Mamou)
  • Vidrine Elementary School (Grades PK-8) (Ville Platte)
  • Ville Platte Elementary School (Grades PK-4) (Ville Platte)
  • W. W. Stewart Elementary (Grades PK-4) (Basile)
  • Basile High School (Grades 5–12) (Basile)
  • Mamou High School (Grades 5–12) (Mamou)
  • Pine Prairie High School (Grades 9–12) (Pine Prairie)
  • Ville Platte High School (Grades 5–12) (Ville Platte)
  • Evangeline Central School (Grades 4–12) (Ville Platte)

Evangeline Parish is also served by the Diocese of Lafayette with one school:

Additionally, Evangeline Parish is served by one unaffiliated private school:

  • Christian Heritage Academy (Grade K) (Ville Platte)

Evangeline Parish is served by one institutions of higher education:

Notable people

Politics

Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFootFor most of the 20th Century, Evangeline was a Democratic-leaning parish, voting Republican only in landslide elections such as 1972, 1980 and 1984. However, like other Acadian parishes with large Cajun populations, Evangeline turned sharply right in the 21st century based on cultural issues and Democrats' discomfort with the oil and gas industry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

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Sources

  • Title: The Cajunization of French Louisiana: Forging a Regional Identity. Authors: Trepanier, Cecyle Source: Geographical Journal; Jul 91, Vol. 157 Issue 2, p161, 11p, 2 charts, 10 maps
  • French, Cajun, Creole, Houma : a primer on francophone Louisiana / Carl A. Brasseaux.
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20091026030323/http://geocities.com/old_time_time/many.htm
  • A history of Evangeline : its land, its men and its women who made it a beautiful place to live, Robert Gahn, Sr.; edited by Revon John Reed, Sr. Baton Rouge, LA : Claitor's, c 1972
  • La Voix des Prairies, Evangeline Genealogical and Historical Society.
  • Bonnes Nouvelles : good news about people, places and things in Evangeline Parish. Ville Platte, La. : Bonnes Nouvelles, 1993-
  • Fort Toulouse : The French Outpost at the Alabamas on the Coosa, Gregory A. Thomas
  • Louisiana's French Creole Culinary & Linguistic Traditions: Facts vs. Fiction Before And Since Cajunization, John laFleur II, Brian Costello w/ Dr. Ina Fandrich 2013
  • Louisiana's Creole French People, Our Food, Language & Culture: 500 Years of Culture copyright 2014, John laFleur II

National Guard

The 1086th Transportation Company of the 165th CSS (Combat Service Support) Battalion resides in Ville Platte, Louisiana. This unit belongs to the 139th RSG (regional support group).

References

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Geology

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Template:Evangeline Parish, Louisiana Template:Louisiana parishes

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