ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19966 

STUDY TITLE: The Coastal Division of Industrial Labor Over Time and Space 

REPORT TITLE: Sustainable Community in Oil and Gas Country: Final Report 

CONTRACT NUMBER: 14-35-0001-30660-19966 

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Gulf of Mexico 

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREAS: Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico 

FISCAL YEARS OF PROJECT FUNDING: 1998, 1999, and 2000 

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: March 2006 

COSTS: FY 1998 $44,000; FY 1999 $44,000; FY 2000 $44,000 CUMULATIVE 

PROJECT COST: $132,000 

PROJECT MANAGER: Charles M. Tolbert II 

AFFILIATION: Baylor University (formerly with Louisiana State University) 

ADDRESS: Department of Sociology, Waco, Texas 76798 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS*: Charles M. Tolbert II, Deborrah Tootle, and Linda 

Tobin 

KEY WORDS: Abbeville, social and economic effects, community sustainability, 

producer services 

BACKGROUND: While analyzing the impact of the expansion and decline of oil and 

gas activity in coastal communities, researchers found that the city of Abbeville, 

Louisiana, did not show the typical patterns of income volatility associated with oil and 

gas development. This community is a city of 12,500 in coastal and rural Vermilion 

Parish about 20 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. Because the apparent 

sustainability of Abbeville could not be explained with existing data, a multi-method case 

study of Abbeville was conducted. One obvious explanation for Abbeville’s resiliency is 

that Abbeville was not dependent on oil and gas and therefore not seriously affected by 

the expansion and contraction of oil and gas activity. However, data from various 

sources showed that employment in the oil and gas industries was similar to Louisiana 

parishes that exhibit high levels of oil and gas involvement. Unlike many others places, 

however, Abbeville did not exhibit the same economic ups and downs associated with 

the industry. 

OBJECTIVES: This research project has two objectives: 1) a Gulf-wide study of 

coastal places that might derive resiliency from industrial diversity based in part on a 

thriving business service sector and 2) to serve as a follow-on community field study to 
ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19966 

explore the extent to which oil and gas industry activity might compensate for the loss of 

the textile plant in the community. 

DESCRIPTION: This research report describes two projects that focus on Abbeville in 

the late 1990s, a small town in rural Vermilion Parish in Southwestern Louisiana. 

Previous research on the social and economic consequence of the 1980s oil-price 

collapse had shown substantial variation among coastal Louisiana communities (Tolbert 

1995). Despite Abbeville’s heavy involvement with the petroleum industry, it appeared 

to be particularly resistant to the income volatility generally associated with periods of 

increasing and decreasing oil and gas development activities. The first of the two 

projects described in this report was conducted in 1997. The study found that 

Abbeville’s resiliency reflects a historical and cultural legacy rooted in rich social 

resources, economic development, and a distinctive local industrial structure that 

enables it to weather economic disruptions. Findings suggested that, unlike most oil 

and gas dependent locations, Abbeville’s industrial base is diverse. At the time, this 

industrial diversity was reflected in part by relatively large routine manufacturing, 

extractive (agriculture), and business and professional service sectors. The business 

and professional service sector was, and is, largely oil and gas related, but this sector is 

centered in offshore logistics and production which was less affected by price 

fluctuations than was exploration. 

The second project is a community study that concluded in 1998, during a period of high 

offshore (deepwater) activity. However, Abbeville was experiencing a potentially huge 

negative socioeconomic shock from the closure of a Fruit of the Loom textile plant, 

which had employed as many as 1,100 local people. This second research project was 

designed as a follow-on community field study to explore the extent to which oil and gas 

industry activity might compensate for the loss of the textile plant, and as a Gulf-wide 

study of coastal places that might derive resiliency from industrial diversity based in part 

on a thriving business service sector. 

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the first Abbeville research project 

provide insights into the social structures, economic structures, and socioeconomic 

processes that contribute to sustainable community development. These findings were 

used to identify additional Abbeville-like communities across the Gulf Coast by 

searching for a similar, distinctive brand of industrial diversity coupled with strong 

kinship networks and enduring social ties. The closing of the Fruit of the Loom plant 

sent shockwaves through the community. However, at the time, an expanding oil and 

gas industry helped offset a socioeconomic shock in this most interesting and resilient 

community. 

STUDY RESULTS: Vermilion Parish had a Census 2000 population of about 53,000 

persons. The Parish is very diverse geographically, composed of a northern coastal 

plain ideal for agriculture and southern coastal marshes. The only incorporated place of 

at least 10,000 residents is Abbeville (2000 population of almost 12,000). The town and 

its industrial district extension, Intracoastal City, are in the center of the parish on the 
ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19966 

southernmost edge of the coastal plain. The vast majority of persons reside in the 

northern half of the parish. 

Although Vermilion Parish was settled as part of the Acadian movement from Nova 

Scotia, it developed rather late in the migration episode. Abbeville was designated as a 

city in 1850 and so named because friars were seeking a location for a cathedral in the 

area south of Lafayette. This rather late start was significant since it did not permit 

Abbeville to develop a plantation economy. Instead, Vermilion Parish experienced a 

plethora of family farming enterprises on property received from Spanish land grants. 

Much of this land remains in the hands of a relatively few extended families, indicated 

by the few surnames in the area and the vast, dense complex of kinship groups. The 

French influence remains a hallmark of culture. A review of newspapers and historical 

materials indicated that the area remained largely isolated through the Second World 

War. The Acadian culture was dominant, and Abbeville was a low-income community. 

Articles and documents suggested that an in-migration of oil and gas workers in the 

post-war period lessened the area’s isolation. But, today the community still has rich 

cultural traditions and strong social capital—rooted primarily in elaborate kinship 

networks--that buffer it through hard times. 

Many oil and gas industry workers left the area during the industry downturn in the 

1980s. However, persons with family ties stayed and gave up recreational activities and 

luxuries. Many people assumed second (and in some cases, third) jobs. Many women 

entered the labor market and contributed to a family income. Other people took 

advantage of the diversity of natural resources and recreational activities to earn extra 

income. The geography is so amenable to agriculture that there are few barriers to 

going into the farming business on one’s family land. Vermilion is the leading beef 

cattle producing parish in Louisiana. Small-scale shrimpers got into the business by 

retrofitting recreational boats. In almost all cases, residents relied on social 

relationships and family ties, an important source of social and economic resources. 

The plant closure study depicted community impacts that varied at the individual level 

by gender, race, and ethnicity. Because most of the displaced workers were female, 

virtually none of them found employment directly in the oil and gas industry. However, 

there were many signs that other household members’ employment in oil and gas 

activities helped to sustain some displaced workers. More generally, the presence of oil 

and gas in the local economy added to the local industrial diversity and sustained the 

workers and the community through this tough episode. The project found a prevailing 

resiliency that enables Abbeville to sustain itself that has been identified only rarely in 

the annals of modern rural social science. The gulf-wide component of this study 

identified inventory of characteristics of vital communities that Abbeville shares with 

many communities in the Gulf of Mexico Region. 

The vast majority of respondents attributed Abbeville’s survival during the downturn of 

oil and gas activity to agriculture. Others mentioned that the city had actively recruited 

Fruit of the Loom which opened in 1990. The plant initially employed almost 1,000 

people, 80 percent of whom lived in the parish. Parish and city officials in Abbeville (as 
ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19966 

in most of Acadiana) had also begun to promote tourism. Abbeville is a quaint city, 

known for its seafood restaurants. None of these explanations were found to be 

particularly plausible. The Fruit of the Loom plant opened too late in the downturn 

episode to be of much help. Agriculture is an important source of diversity, but its 

effects were largely felt in the vast rural areas of the parish, not in the city of Abbeville. 

Tourist activity is sparse. The most likely macro explanation for local resilience is that 

Abbeville’s industrial park is a staging area or center for logistics and operations for the 

oil and gas industry. The oil and gas downturn was largely a cessation in exploration, 

not production. The many offshore facilities already in production required ongoing 

servicing. The services are varied and range from administrative, financial, legal, 

medical, transportation, catering, suppliers, and so on. The importance of services in 

Abbeville contrasts with neighboring St. Mary and Iberia parishes that specialize in the 

oil and gas exploration or related activities such as rig fabrication. Tolbert (1995) shows 

those parishes were harder hit during the oil and gas downturn than Vermilion. Most 

rural areas have primarily consumer services. However, the Abbeville area service 

base is largely business and professional services, which are producer services. The 

producer service base is a major factor contributing to sustainability. 

STUDY PRODUCT(S): Tolbert, C.M. II, ed. 2006. Sustainable community in oil and 

gas country: final report. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf 

of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study MMS 2006-011. 71 pp. 

*P.I.'s affiliation may be different than that listed for Project Manager.