page_title: Opelousas, Louisiana
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Opelousas, Louisiana / History / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: St. Landry Catholic Church This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 82004675
context_page_description: Opelousas is a small city in, and the parish seat of, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were constructed with a junction here. The population was 22,860 at the 2000 census. In 2004 the city annexed territory and population expected to give it more than 25,000 people in total. In the 2010 census, the population was 16,634. Opelousas is the principal city for the Opelousas-Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 92,178 in 2008. Opelousas is also the third-largest city in the Lafayette-Acadiana Combined Statistical Area, which has a population of 537,947.
  With an area of 7.5 square miles, Opelousas is the most densely populated incorporated city in Louisiana.
  Historically an area of settlement by French Creoles, Creoles of color, and Acadians, Opelousas is the center of zydeco music. It celebrates its heritage at the Creole Heritage Folklife Center, one of the destinations on the new Louisiana African American Heritage Trail. It is also the location of the Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino.
context_section_description: Opelousas takes its name from the Native American tribe Opelousa who had occupied the area before European contact.
  French traders, called coureur de bois (trapper and hunter), arrived in the Opelousas area in the early 1740s to trade with the Opelousas Indians. The French encouraged immigration to Opelousas Post before they ceded Louisiana to Spain in 1762. An official post was established in 1764; Frenchman Louis Gérard Pellerin served as first commandant.  In 1769, about 100 families, mostly French, were living in the post. By 1765, Saint Landry Catholic Church was built. Don Alejandro O'Reilly, Spanish governor of Louisiana, issued a land ordinance to allow settlers in the frontier of the Opelousas Territory to acquire land grants. The first official land grant was made in 1782. Numerous settlers: French, Creoles, and Acadians, mainly from the Attakapas Territory, came to the Opelousas Territory and acquired land grants. (Some people confuse the name of this Indian tribe and territory, Opelousas, with that of the Appaloosa horse. But there is no connection; the name for the Appaloosa breed is derived from Palouse, a river named by the Nez Perce Northwestern Plains Indians.
  After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, settlers continued to migrate here from St. Martinville. LeBon, Prejean, Thibodaux, Esprit, Nezat, Hebert, Babineaux, Mouton, and Provost were some of the early Creole families. (This use of Creole meant ethnic French and Spanish people who were born in Louisiana. Later Louisiana Creole was a term applied to anyone with French, Spanish, and Canadian ancestry.  Creoles of color were mostly assigned to mixed-race people, descended primarily from Native Americans, African-Americans, and ethnic French, with other heritage in more recent years.) Other early French Creole families were Roy, Barre, Guenard, Decuir, and Bail. In 1820, Alex Charles Barre, also a French Creole, founded Port Barre. His ancestors came from the French West Indies, probably after the revolution in which Haiti (St. Domingue) became independent. Jim Bowie and his family were said to have settled in the area circa 1813.
  In 1805, Opelousas became the seat of the newly formed St. Landry Parish, also known as the Imperial Parish of Louisiana. The year 1806 marked the beginning of significant construction in Opelousas. The first courthouse was constructed in the middle of the town. Later in 1806, Louisiana Memorial United Methodist Church was founded, the first Methodist and the first Protestant church in Louisiana. Five years later, the first St. Landry Parish Police Jury met in Opelousas, keeping minutes in the two official languages of English and French. The city was incorporated by legislative act on February 14, 1821.
caption: Saint Landry Catholic Church
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