Lafayette, Louisiana

The Attakapas Native Americans inhabited this area at the time of the first European encounter. French colonists founded the first European settlement, Petit Manchac, a trading post along the Vermilion River.[6] In the mid-to-late eighteenth century, numerous Acadian refugees settled in this area, after being expelled from Canada after Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War. They intermarried with other settlers, forming what became known as Cajun culture, which maintained use of the French language and adherence to the Roman Catholic Church.

Jean Mouton, an Acadian settler, donated land to the Catholic Church for construction of a small Catholic chapel at this site. In 1824, this area was selected for the Lafayette Parish seat and was named Vermilionville, for its location on the river. In 1836, the Louisiana Legislature approved its incorporation.

The area was initially developed by Europeans for agriculture, primarily sugar plantations, which depended on the labor of numerous enslaved Africans and African Americans. They made up a large percentage of the antebellum population.[6] According to U.S. Census data in 1830, some 41% of the population of Lafayette Parish was enslaved.[7] By 1860, the enslaved population had increased to 49.6%. Some free people of color lived in Lafayette Parish, as well; they made up 3%, to a low of 2.4% between 1830 and 1860.

In 1884, Vermilionville was renamed for General Lafayette, a French aristocrat who had fought with and significantly aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.[8] The city and parish economy continued to be based on agriculture into the early 20th century. After the Civil War, most of the labor was done by freedmen, who worked as sharecroppers. From the 1930s, mechanization of agriculture began to reduce the need for farm workers.[9]

In the 1940s, after oil was discovered in the parish, the petroleum and natural gas industries expanded to dominate the economy.

Lafayette is considered to be the center of Acadiana, the area of Cajun culture in the state. It is also a center of Louisiana Creole culture. The Cajun culture developed among settlers here over the decades and centuries following the relocation of Acadians after their expulsion by the British. A strong Louisiana Creole influence also is in the area, as this mixed-race population became landowners and businesspeople.[10]

Lafayette is located at 30°13′N 92°2′W (30.2139, −92.0294)[11] and has an elevation of 36 feet (11.0 m).[12] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.2 square miles (127 km²), of which 49.1 square miles (127 km²) are land and 0.1 sq mi (0.26 km²) (0.19%) is covered by water.

Lafayette is located on the West Gulf Coastal Plain. The site was part of the seabed during the earlier Quaternary period. During this time, the Mississippi River cut a 325-foot-deep (99 m) valley between what is now Lafayette and Baton Rouge. This valley was filled and is now the Atchafalaya Basin. Lafayette is located on the western rim of this valley.

This is part of the southwestern Louisiana Prairie Terrace; it is higher and not made of wetlands like much of the surrounding areas to the south and west of Lafayette. Lafayette does not suffer significant flooding problems, outside of local flash flooding. Lafayette has developed on both sides of the Vermilion River. Other significant waterways in the city are Isaac Verot Coulee, Coulee Mine, Coulee des Poches, and Coulee Ile des Cannes, which are natural drainage canals that lead to the Vermilion River.[13]

Lafayette's climate is described as humid subtropical using Köppen climate classification. It has year-round precipitation, especially during summertime. Lafayette's highest temperature was 107 °F (42 °C); it has hot, moist summers and warm, damp winters.

St John's Cathedral of Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana

As of the census[16] of 2010, 120,623 people, 43,506 households, and 27,104 families were residing in the city. The population density was 2,316.7 people per square mile (894.5/km²). The 46,865 housing units averaged 984.7 per square mile (380.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.23% White, 28.51% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.44% Asian, 0.60% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 7.88% of the population. In 2010, 84.2% of the population over the age of five spoke only English at home, while 11.5% of the population spoke French.[17]

Of the 43,506 households, 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.7% were not families. About 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43, and the average family size was 3.07.

In the city, the age distribution was 25.1% under 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,996, and for a family was $47,783. Males had a median income of $37,729 versus $23,606 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,031. About 11.6% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.

See also Notable local politicians

Since the consolidation of city and parish governments in 1992, Lafayette's chief executive is known as the mayor-president. Republican Josh Guillory was elected to this office most recently.[22]

Some residents did not like the consolidated government, but in 2011, parish voters soundly rejected a proposal to separate parish and city governments. Under consolidation, the City of Lafayette and Parish of Lafayette have a common representative body and executive officer. Public works and other services, such as land use and plat review, are operated by the Lafayette Consolidated Government to serve the City of Lafayette and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish, and by contract some of the area municipalities. Zoning rules apply only within the city and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish.[23]

Some neighboring municipalities have adopted their own planning and zoning protocols. The suburban and rural cities and towns maintain independent city councils, local executives, police and fire departments, and other public services. The LPSS operates independently of any municipality, and its jurisdiction is coterminous with the Parish of Lafayette.[24]

Lafayette is also home to a regional office of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and the headquarters of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, the state agency that oversees preservation and documentation of Louisiana French for tourism, economic development, culture, education, and the development of international relations with other Francophone regions and countries.[25]

Utilities

• Electricity, water, and waste water

Lafayette is served by Lafayette Utilities System (LUS), a city-parish government-run, publicly owned utility company. This water and electricity utility was created in 1897.[27][28]

Both electricity and water services have been continuously provided by LUS to the residents of the City of Lafayette since that time. LUS has expanded to provide electricity, drinking water, and sewage treatment throughout the City of Lafayette, and to some unincorporated parts of Lafayette Parish. LUS also provides bulk sales to the water systems of most surrounding municipalities.

In 2009, LUS installed infrastructure for a fiber telecommunications network. Called LUSFiber, the network provides digital cable, telephone service, and high-speed internet to all households in Lafayette.[29]

• Natural gas

Natural gas service is supplied by Atmos Energy.

• Telephone

Local land-line telephone service is provided by AT&T. Cox Communications and LUS Fiber provide Voice over Internet Protocol phone service.

• Television

Cable television service in Lafayette is provided by Cox Communications. LUS provides FTTH video services through LUSFiber. DirecTV and Dish Network both include Lafayette TV stations in their local packages.

Downtown Lafayette from the air

Lafayette is the location of the last remaining Borden's Ice Cream outlet in the United States.

• Acadiana Center for the Arts
• Acadian Village is a reconstructed Cajun bayou community (of moved and reassembled authentic buildings) and has a representative collection of Cajun furnishings.
• Alexandre Mouton House Museum – a historic house museum, the home of Louisiana's first Democratic governor, Alexandre Mouton; contains a collection of antiques, historical documents, and old Mardi Gras costumes
• Borden's Ice Cream – the last Borden's Ice Cream location in the United States
• Caillouet House
• Children's Museum of Acadiana
• Cité des Arts
• Cypress Lake is a two-acre swamp-like lake in the heart of the UL campus that is a unique university landmark and a habitat for native irises, alligators, turtles, birds and fish, as well as a hangout for students and a point of interest for tourists visiting the city.
• Downtown Lafayette
• Girard Park
• Heymann Center – performing arts center
• Acadian Cultural Center of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
• Katog Choling Tibetan Cultural Center
• Lafayette Natural History Museum & Planetarium
• Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) – a 70,000-square-foot facility at the Research Park; owns the world's first six-sided, digital virtual reality cube as well as the world's largest digital 3-D auditorium
• Mouton Plantation Bed and Breakfast – originally built by Governor Charles Mouton (1797-1848), son of Lafayette's founder, Jean Mouton (1754-1834)
• Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum
• Vermilionville Historic Village – one of the world's largest Cajun and Creole living history museums, with seven restored historic structures from the 1765–1890 era
• Zoosiana – located nearby in Broussard

• Cajun Heartland State Fair – an eleven-day state fair held on the grounds of the Cajundome and Convention Center
• Festivals Acadiens et Creoles – an annual collection of festivals celebrating Cajun and Creole cultures
• Festival International de Louisiane – an annual international festival of arts and music, celebrating Lafayette and the surrounding area's French heritage
• Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette – the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in Louisiana

• Air: Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) is located on US Highway 90, on the southeast side of the city with daily scheduled passenger airline services to Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Atlanta. Charter services depart Lafayette Regional as well as helicopter services and cargo jets.
• Interstate Highway: I-10 and I-49 (Lafayette serves as I-49's southern terminus, at its intersection with I-10.)
• Passenger rail: The Amtrak Sunset Limited offers service three days a week from New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California with selected stops in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Connections are available in New Orleans to Chicago and to the East Coast via Atlanta. Service eastward to Orlando, Florida remains suspended in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
• Intercity passenger bus: Greyhound operates a station downtown on Lee Avenue with destinations east and west on I-10, north on I-49 and southeast on US Hwy 90
• Public transit: Lafayette Transit System (formerly City of Lafayette Transit (COLT)) provides bus service. Public transportation is provided only within Lafayette City Limits.
• Bicycle facilities: There are certain areas within the city of Lafayette dedicated to growing into a bicycle-friendly community. The Lafayette MPO Bicycle Subcommittee meet once a month and has developed long-term goals for bicycling in the area. BikeLafayette is the area's bicycle advocacy organization which is very active in promoting bicycle awareness, safety, and education in Acadiana. TRAIL is an organization that promotes bicycling, canoeing, and pedestrian activities. Right now Lafayette has a growing number of dedicated commuter and recreational bicycling facilities, including a bicycle lane on each side of Johnston Street from UL-Lafayette area at Lewis Street to near Ambassador Caffery, ending at Ridge Road. Henderson Levee has opened a 55-mile trail, and there is a mountain bike park in Acadiana Park. UL-Lafayette has installed an off-road paved bicycle path beginning at its Horticultural Center on Johnston Street extending up Cajundome Boulevard to Eraste Landry Road. A number of out of use bicycle/pedestrian sidewalk paths remain from the 1970s and 1980s but are unsigned. A recreational trail extending from Downtown Lafayette into the Cypress Island region of Saint Martin Parish is under development. This path will connect neighboring Breaux Bridge and Saint Martinville with Lafayette.
• Main road arteries: U.S. Routes 90 (co-signed with Evangeline Thruway, Mudd Avenue and Cameron Street within the city limits) and U.S. Route 167 (co-signed with I-49, Evangeline Thruway and Johnston Street). Ambassador Caffery Parkway, named for Jefferson Caffery, serves as a partial loop connecting I-10 at Exit 100 on the west and US 90 on the south. Other arterial roads include Verot School Road (LA 339), West Congress Street, Kaliste Saloom Road (LA 3095), Ridge Road, Carmel Drive/Breaux Bridge Highway (LA 94), University Avenue (LA 182), Pinhook Road (LA 182), Camellia Boulevard, Guilbeau Road, Moss Street, Willow Street, Louisiana Avenue, Pont Des Mouton Road, Eraste Landry Road, and South College Road.

• Danneel Ackles, actress and model
• Liz Carmouche, mixed martial artist
• Irvin Castille, baseball player in the Negro leagues
• Michael Ray Charles, Artist, African-American painter
• Jermall Charlo, boxer
• Jermell Charlo, boxer and identical twin to Jermall Charlo
• Daniel Cormier, mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler
• Lauren Daigle, Grammy Award-winning contemporary Christian singer / recording artist
• Lawrence Duhé, early jazz clarinetist and bandleader
• Armand Duplantis, Swedish-American world record pole vaulter
• Ron Guidry, former Major League Baseball player (New York Yankees)
• Danneel Harris, American actress and model
• Hunter Hayes, country musician
• Alan Jouban, mixed martial artist
• Angela Kinsey, actress
• Sonny Landreth, blues musician
• Ann McBride Norton (1944–2020), activist and business executive
• Kim Perrot (1967–1999), pro basketball player
• Addison Rae, TikToker and social media personality[35]
• Dax Riggs, musician
• Chanda Rubin, former tennis player
• Keith Thibodeaux, musician and former child actor
• Dustin Poirier, mixed martial artist[36]

Lafayette has seven sister cities:[37]

• Le Cannet, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France (twinned May 26, 1967)
• Longueuil, Quebec, Canada (twinned December 3, 1968)
• Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada (twinned October 19, 1971)
• Poitiers, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (twinned April 22, 1975)
• Namur, Wallonia, Belgium (twinned June 19, 1979)
• Agnibilékrou, Ivory Coast (twinned October 5, 1999)
• Centla, Mexico (twinned November 4, 2013)

Six intersections in the downtown area are each named after one of its sister cities.

• List of people from Lafayette, Louisiana
• Youngsville, Louisiana

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lafayette, Louisiana.

• Lafayette, Louisiana travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Lafayette Consolidated Government
• One Acadiana – Former Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
• Lafayette Conventions and Visitors Center