Evangeline Parish | |
|---|---|
| Parish of Evangeline Paroisse d'Évangéline (French) | |
 Evangeline Bank and Trust Co. Building,Ville Platte, Louisiana | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofLouisiana | |
| Coordinates:30°44′N92°25′W / 30.73°N 92.41°W /30.73; -92.41 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Louisiana |
| Founded | 1910 |
| Named after | Acadian heroine of the poem "Evangeline" |
| Seat | Ville Platte |
| Largest city | Ville Platte |
| Area | |
• Total | 680 sq mi (1,800 km2) |
| • Land | 662 sq mi (1,710 km2) |
| • Water | 17 sq mi (44 km2) 2.5% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 32,350 |
| • Density | 48.9/sq mi (18.9/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 4th |
Evangeline Parish (French:Paroisse d'Évangéline) is aparish located in theU.S. state ofLouisiana. As of the2020 census,[update] the population was 32,350.[1] Theparish seat isVille Platte.[2]
The parish was created out of lands formerly belonging toSt. Landry Parish in 1910.[3] The majority of the area was originally settled by French Canadian colonists and former colonial marines (coureurs de bois) from such outposts asFort Toulouse andFort 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 underSpanish 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 SpanishCanary 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. ManyEnglish Americans as colonists came from the Eastern United States to settle in the newly purchasedLouisiana Territory often married into Acadian families. Some prominent English surnames include Chapman, Kershaw, Young, Reed, Langley, Tate and Buller.
A fewAcadians 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 eraCajunplanter's lifestyle over that of the humble and isolated existence of theirAcadiana cousins.
The parish was namedEvangeline in honor ofHenry 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. (SeeVille 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 theRandy Newman song "Louisiana 1927", in which he described theGreat Mississippi Flood which covered it with six feet of water.
Ville Platte, Louisiana, theseat of Evangeline Parish, was itself so named by one of Napoleon Bonaparte's former soldiers, Adjutant Major Marcellin Garand (1781–1852), of Savoy, France. (SeeNapoleon's Soldiers In America, by Simone de la Souchere-Delery, 1999).
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 680 square miles (1,800 km2), of which 662 square miles (1,710 km2) is land and 17 square miles (44 km2) (2.5%) is water.[4]
Interstate 49
U.S. Highway 167
U.S. Highway 190.svg)
Louisiana Highway 10.svg)
Louisiana Highway 13.svg)
Louisiana Highway 29
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 23,485 | — | |
| 1930 | 25,483 | 8.5% | |
| 1940 | 30,497 | 19.7% | |
| 1950 | 31,629 | 3.7% | |
| 1960 | 31,639 | 0.0% | |
| 1970 | 31,932 | 0.9% | |
| 1980 | 33,343 | 4.4% | |
| 1990 | 33,274 | −0.2% | |
| 2000 | 35,434 | 6.5% | |
| 2010 | 33,984 | −4.1% | |
| 2020 | 32,350 | −4.8% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[5] 1790-1960[6] 1900-1990[7] 1990-2000[8] 2010[9] | |||
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 1980[10] | Pop 1990[11] | Pop 2000[12] | Pop 2010[13] | Pop 2020[14] | % 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 orAlaska 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 orPacific Islander alone (NH) | x[15] | x[16] | 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[17] | x[18] | 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 the2020 United States census, there were 32,350 people, 12,172 households, and 7,739 families residing in the parish. The most reported ancestries wereAfrican American (14.4%),English (13.1%),French (7.1%),Cajun (2.9%),Irish (2.5%), andGerman (2.1%).[19]
Public Schools in Evangeline Parish are operated by theEvangeline Parish School Board.
Evangeline Parish is also served by theDiocese of Lafayette with one school:
Additionally, Evangeline Parish is served by one unaffiliated private school:
Evangeline Parish is served by one institutions of higher education:
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1912 | 31 | 5.68% | 457 | 83.70% | 58 | 10.62% |
| 1916 | 26 | 2.99% | 808 | 92.77% | 37 | 4.25% |
| 1920 | 587 | 51.99% | 542 | 48.01% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 153 | 20.21% | 603 | 79.66% | 1 | 0.13% |
| 1928 | 300 | 13.81% | 1,873 | 86.19% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 52 | 1.64% | 3,115 | 98.36% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 331 | 8.68% | 3,484 | 91.32% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 220 | 5.81% | 3,569 | 94.19% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1944 | 275 | 8.32% | 3,029 | 91.68% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 206 | 3.57% | 1,149 | 19.90% | 4,418 | 76.53% |
| 1952 | 2,445 | 41.84% | 3,398 | 58.16% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 2,170 | 38.20% | 3,336 | 58.73% | 174 | 3.06% |
| 1960 | 1,105 | 11.32% | 7,865 | 80.55% | 794 | 8.13% |
| 1964 | 3,975 | 39.21% | 6,163 | 60.79% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 1,549 | 13.40% | 2,647 | 22.90% | 7,362 | 63.70% |
| 1972 | 5,523 | 60.03% | 2,919 | 31.72% | 759 | 8.25% |
| 1976 | 3,715 | 32.14% | 7,578 | 65.56% | 265 | 2.29% |
| 1980 | 7,412 | 51.26% | 6,722 | 46.48% | 327 | 2.26% |
| 1984 | 8,680 | 54.78% | 6,981 | 44.06% | 183 | 1.16% |
| 1988 | 7,437 | 48.29% | 7,693 | 49.95% | 270 | 1.75% |
| 1992 | 5,147 | 31.43% | 8,564 | 52.30% | 2,665 | 16.27% |
| 1996 | 5,278 | 35.53% | 7,847 | 52.83% | 1,729 | 11.64% |
| 2000 | 7,290 | 53.56% | 5,763 | 42.34% | 559 | 4.11% |
| 2004 | 7,949 | 56.86% | 5,757 | 41.18% | 273 | 1.95% |
| 2008 | 9,793 | 61.30% | 5,853 | 36.64% | 330 | 2.07% |
| 2012 | 10,181 | 64.56% | 5,330 | 33.80% | 259 | 1.64% |
| 2016 | 10,360 | 69.61% | 4,208 | 28.28% | 314 | 2.11% |
| 2020 | 11,053 | 71.72% | 4,158 | 26.98% | 201 | 1.30% |
| 2024 | 10,483 | 73.95% | 3,526 | 24.87% | 167 | 1.18% |
For most of the 20th Century, Evangeline was a Democratic-leaning parish, voting Republican only in landslide elections such as1972,1980 and1984. However, like otherAcadian parishes with largeCajun populations, Evangeline turned sharply right in the 21st century based on cultural issues and Democrats' discomfort with the oil and gas industry.[22]
The 1086th Transportation Company of the 165th CSS (Combat Service Support) Battalion resides inVille Platte, Louisiana. This unit belongs to the 139th RSG (regional support group).
Geology
Places adjacent to Evangeline Parish, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofEvangeline Parish, Louisiana,United States | ||
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| Villages | ||
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| Other unincorporated communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent parish or parishes | |
30°44′N92°25′W / 30.73°N 92.41°W /30.73; -92.41
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