Introduction to St. Martinville

This historic town dates from 1765 when it was a military station known as the Poste des Attakapas. It is also the last home of Emmeline Labiche, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Evangeline. There was a time when it was known as la Petite Paris -- many French aristocrats fled their homeland during the Revolution and settled here, bringing with them such traditions as fancy balls, lavish banquets, and other forms of high living.