Abbeville

City of Abbeville
The Big Ville
City
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Vermilion
Elevation	16 ft (4.9 m)
Coordinates	29°58′21″N 92°07′45″W / 29.9725°N 92.12917°W / 29.9725; -92.12917
Area	5.7 sq mi (14.8 km2)
- land	5.7 sq mi (15 km2)
- water	0.0 sq mi (0 km2), 0%
Population	22,800 (2009)
Density	2,104.3 /sq mi (812.5 /km2)
Incorporated	1850
Mayor	Mark F. Piazza
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	70510, 70511
Area code	337
Location of Abbeville in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States
Website: http://www.cityofabbeville.net

Abbeville is a city in and the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States,^[1] 150 miles (241 km) west of New Orleans. The population was 11,887 at the 2000 census. Abbeville is in the heart of "Cajun Country," and is home to many restaurants that specialize in the authentic tastes of the region.

Abbeville is the principal city of the Abbeville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Vermilion Parish. It is also part of the larger Lafayette–Acadiana Combined Statistical Area.

History

Père Antoine Désiré Mégret

Formerly called La Chapelle, the land that was to become Abbeville was purchased by founding father Père Antoine Désiré Mégret (Père is French for 'Father'), Capuchin missionary, on July 25, 1843 for $900. Megret named the town after his home in France. There were two people living on the land at that time, Joseph LeBlanc and his wife Isabelle Broussard, whose former home Father Megret converted into a chapel. The chapel burned in 1854, and St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church now stands at the same location.^[2]

Father Megret modeled his original plan for the village after a French Provincial village. In a map he made in 1846, the town was 38 to 40 acres (160,000 m²) in size. It was bounded on the north by St. Victor Boulevard, on the south by Lafayette Boulevard, on the east by "the sisters of Charity," and on the west by Bayou Vermilion. At this point in time the town was called “Abbville”. It is not clear exactly when or why the transition to "Abbeville" took place. There were two theories as to why this name was chosen. One is that it was a combination of "Abbe" for Abbé Mégret and "ville" for town — thus Abbé's town. The other is that it was named for Abbeville, France, which some believed to have been the birthplace of Père Mégret. Some support for the second theory could be found in the fact that the town in France is pronounced "Abbville" by the French. However, in 1995, Fr. Jean Desobry discovered in the diocesan archives of Amiens the dossier of Fr. Antoine Jacques Désiré Mégret, who was born on May 23, 1797 at Abbeville dans la Somme and was to become founder of Abbeville in Louisiana. He also found that on February 12, 1844, the pastor gave to his American town the name of the town of his birth.

"The residents find this name especially fitting because of the French word abbé which means father added to the French word ville [which means town]. Their Abbeville is truly la ville de l'abbé [the priest's town]." ^[3]

At the center of downtown is Magdalen Square, which is a beautiful town square accented by huge oak trees, a fountain, and gazebo. Today, a statue stands in Magdalen Square in memorial to Father Megret.

In 1890, 637 people lived in Abbeville; in 1900, 1,536; in 1910, 2,907; and in 1940, Abbeville was the home of 6,672 occupants. In 1990, 11,187 people lived in Abbeville.

Geography

Abbeville is located at 29°58′21″N 92°7′45″W / 29.9725°N 92.12917°W / 29.9725; -92.12917 (29.972489, -92.129056)^[4] and has an elevation of 16 feet (4.9 m)^[5].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.7 square miles (14.7 km²), of which, 5.7 square miles (14.6 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.53%) is water.

Abbeville is the southern terminus of U.S. Highway 167. Abbeville Municipal Airport is in the eastern part of the city. The Vermilion River runs through downtown Abbeville, and numerous canals and coulies go through other parts of the city.

Demographics

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 11,887 people, 4,499 households, and 3,014 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,104.3 people per square mile (812.3/km²). There were 5,125 housing units at an average density of 907.3/sq mi (350.2/km²).

St. Mary Magdalen Church‎

The racial makeup of the city was 54.29% White, 38.56% African American, 0.19% Native American, 5.50% Asian, 0.39% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.93% of the population. In 2005, 76.0% of the population over the age of five spoke English at home, 16.5% of the population spoke French or Cajun, and 5.5% spoke Vietnamese.^[7]

There were 4,499 households out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% were married couples living together, 21.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $19,714, and the median income for a family was $21,400. Males had a median income of $27,766 versus $16,073 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,680. About 33.3% of families and 37.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 53.8% of those under age 18 and 23.6% of those age 65 or over.

Life in Abbeville

Modern Abbeville is a trade center for agricultural products, especially rice and seafood. Abbeville and its citizens also provide many services for the oil and natural gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

Education

The City of Abbeville is served by the Vermilion Parish School District.^[8] The following public schools are located in Abbeville:

• Abbeville High School (Grades 9-12)
• J.H.Williams Middle School (Grades 6-8)
• Eaton Park Elementary School (Grades PK-5)
• Herod Elementary School (Grades PK-5)
• Meaux Elementary School (Grades PK-6)
• Seventh Ward Elementary School (Grades PK-5)

In addition, the following parochial schools are located in Abbeville:

• Vermilion Catholic High School (Grades 9-12)
• Mount Carmel Elementary School (Grades PK-8)

National Guard

Abbeville is the home of HHC (headquarters company), 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry (mech.), of the Louisiana Army National Guard. The 2nd Battalion served with the 256th Infantry Brigade ("The Tiger Brigade") during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004-2005.

Large food distributors

• C. S. Steen's Syrup Mill, Inc.

Notable restaurants

• Black’s Oyster Bar
• Dupuy’s Oyster Shop
• The River Front Restaurant
• Shucks Restaurant
• Comeaux's Cafe
• Richards Crawfish Patio

Festivals

• Daylily Festival and Garden Show
• Giant Omelette Celebration
• Les Lumieres du Village d'Abbeville
• Louisiana Cattle Festival
• Vermilion Carousel of Arts

Popular culture

Notable residents

• Robert Angers (1919-1988), journalist born in Abbeville, founded Acadiana Profile magazine
• Allen Bares, Vermilion Parish native who represented Lafayette Parish in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from 1972-1992
• Sammy Kershaw, country music artist, was born in Kaplan in 1958; ran for lieutenant governor of Louisiana in 2007
• Charlton Lyons, considered the "father of the Republican Party in Louisiana", was born in Abbeville in 1894.
• Brandon Mitchell, professional American football player
• George Petty, artist, was also born in Abbeville in 1894
• Ned Theall, member of swamp pop band The Boogie Kings
• Roy Theriot, mayor of Abbeville (1954-1960); Louisiana state comptroller (1960-1973, his death)
• Sam Theriot, former Vermilion Parish clerk of court (1996-2000), former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1979-1996) known for his anti-abortion stance, and a former Abbeville city council member (1978-1979)
• Seth Fenwick Miller, Professional cage fighter
• Margaret Chauvin Steen Villemez, Outstanding Alumni of ULL, 1982,^[9]

Films

The 1988 remake of The Blob movie was filmed in Abbeville.

Robert J. Flaherty chose Abbeville in 1948 as his base of operations during the filming of "The Louisiana Story." He rented a house in the current downtown area for 15 months over 1946-47.

References

Further reading

• "Abbeville," The Encyclopædia Britannica.

External links

• City of Abbeville, Louisiana
• Abbeville Walking Tour on Louisiana Main Street
• Vermilion Parish Tourist Commission

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana Parish seat: Abbeville Cities Abbeville | Kaplan Town Delcambre‡ | Erath | Gueydan Village Maurice Unincorporated communities Andrew | Bancker | Boston | Camille | Charon | Chenier Au Tigre | Cossinade | Cow Island | Esther | Forked Island | Grosse Isle | Henry | Indian Bayou | Intracoastal City | Laurents Point | Leleux | Leroy | Mack | Marceaux | Meaux | Mouton Cove | Mulvey | Nunez | Pecan Island | Perry | Riceville | Rose Hill | Theall | Woodlawn | Wright | Youngs Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent parish or parishes