Any Lafayette attorney or Louisiana attorney who practices in Lafayette Louisiana will tell you that the city is located right in the heart of Acadiana and is one of the few societies that has its own colorful heritage, the unique Cajun/Creole Culture, which gives it a remarkable distinction from the rest of the world!

Lafayette, the unofficial capital of Cajun Country, is a metropolis which displays an extraordinary mixture of tradition and progressiveness. Having a rich French heritage blended with Spanish, American, Indian and African influences, the city represents a colorful combination of lifestyles.

Lafayette lies 15 miles west of the Atchafalaya Basin and 35 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico and exhibits the subtropical climate typical of South Louisiana. The city is situated in a geographical area of forests and prairies interlaced with bayous, swamps and marshes.

The first known inhabitants, the Attakapas Indians, were known to have populated the Lafayette area in the 1700s. The exact date when the first European settlers reached the Lafayette area is not known. A census conducted in 1769 by Spanish Governor O'Reilly indicated a population of 409 for the area.

The historical event of the 18th century which had the greatest cultural impact on Lafayette was the migration of the Acadians from French Canada. Approximately 18,000 French-speaking Catholic inhabitants settled Acadie (now Nova Scotia) in 1605 and lived there under French rule until 1713 when the region went into English hands.

Families were separated and as the Acadians went to sea under dreadful conditions, more than half lost their lives. The exiles ended up in many locations and in 1784, the King of Spain consented to allow them to settle in South Louisiana. The Acadians then joined a scattering of their people who had arrived as early as 1765 from the Caribbean and the East Coast.

For Lafayette, in 1821, Jean Mouton (an Acadian) donated land for the construction of a Catholic church. On May 15, 1822 Bishop Duborg created the church parish of St. John the Evangelist of Vermilion which encompassed the area from Mouton's plantation south to the Gulf of Mexico and west to the Sabine River.

A settlement grew around the church and on January 17, 1823, the Louisiana Legislature created Lafayette Parish from the western portion of what was St. Martin Parish. Mouton made a second land donation to the new community, this time for a courthouse. The town of Vermilionville became the new parish's seat. The settlement grew and the town of Vermilionville was renamed Lafayette in 1844 in honor of the French Marquis de Lafayette.