Lafayette, LA Summary

Exiled Acadians from Canada’s Nova Scotia first settled the city of Lafayette on the Vermilion River in 1763. Originally inhabited by the Attakapas tribe, Lafayette existed for nearly 58 years before the foundations of a town were laid out by early pioneer and cotton planter, Jean Mouton. He donated land at the Bayou Vermilion for a church site and courthouse, and in 1836 the city was incorporated as Vermilionville.

After the arrival of the New Orleans-Houston Railroad in 1884, the city’s name was changed to Lafayette in honor of the French hero of the American Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette, who was passing through Louisiana at the time of the war.

Located along I-10, 134 miles west of New Orleans, Lafayette sits in the center of the Cajun heartland, offering a strong financial, medical, and educational economy to Vermilion Parish.

Though its oil industry is now on the wane, Lafayette has not wallowed in the downturn. There is a future in tourism, with a focus on the Acadian culture.

Its unremarkable downtown region is offset by its bustling college-town energy and wealth of cultural activities and museums.

The Acadian Cultural Center on Fisher Road chronicles the history of the Acadians who settled in southern Louisiana’s bayous, prairies, and marshlands.

Close to the center is the living museum of Vermilionville, set on 23 acres on the Bayou Vermilion.

The Cajun folk museum at the Acadian Village is a good introduction to life on the bayous. Lafayette’s University of Southwestern Louisiana is unique for its swamp, featuring alligators and several species of water birds. The college also displays a collection of contemporary and folk art at its University Art Museum. Military aficionados will relish the Louisiana Museum of Military History and its collection of weapons.

Of the city’s architecture, St John’s Cathedral and the adjacent cemetery are of particular interest, along with the grave of Lafayette’s founder, Jean Mouton. Lafayette Museum, now housed on Lafayette Street, features local artifacts and nineteenth-century editions of the city’s newspaper, L’Impartial.

The Festival International de Louisiane celebrates all the Frenchspeaking people of the world. The Acadia Symphony Orchestra is also worth hearing.

Lafayette has a regional airport, and is serviced by bus via I-10.