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Acadia Parish was created on 1887, from St. Landry Parish and the parish was named in honor of the Acadians, descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia. The Parish seat is Crowley.
The first settlement of what is now Acadia Parish was made by the exiled Acadians who were induced by the Spanish Government to come to this area with gifts of large tracts of land, cattle, and agricultural implements. Life was simple, their homes were constructed of mud mixed with moss, their food was plain, and there was little trade. They engaged in stock raising, and later raised corn and cotton.
Acadia Parish was part of St. Landry Parish. In those days of poor transportation, people found it a real hardship to travel by horseback, canoe, or priogue to distant Opelousas, the parish seat. In 1886, the Rayne newspaper, The Rayne Signal, proposed a division of the old parish with the creation of a new one. The proposal was soon supported by many prominent men throughout the area, and in an election, the people voted in its favor, almost two to one. Thus, was born Acadia Parish on October 2, 1886. The name Acadia was suggested by a priest from Rayne, Father Anthoioz.
Adjacent Parishes
Communities, Cities and Towns
Basile | Branch | Church Point | Crowley (Parish Seat) | Duson| Ebenezer | Egan| Ellen | Estherwood | Eunice | Evangeline | Iota | Lyons Point | Maxie | Mermentau | Midland | Mire (formerly Marais Bouleur and Bosco | Morse | Mowata| Rayne | Richard | Robert's Cove
Cemeteries
Links
National Register of Historic Places
