Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site – St. Martinville LA

Description

A state website explains that the “Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site explores the cultural interplay among the diverse peoples along the famed Bayou Teche. Acadians and Creoles, Indians and Africans, Frenchmen and Spaniards, slaves and free people of color-all contributed to the historical tradition of cultural diversity in the Teche region.”   (https://www.crt.state.la.us)

The site was developed by the CCC in the 1930s:

“Acadiana was fortunate to have several projects. Most notably was project SP-1 Company No. 277 located in St. Martinville. The project was one of the first in the nation and started on Sept. 20, 1933. Its first major project was the Longfellow-Evangeline State Park, where the camp was located. A famous author, Wilton Ledet, wrote about his experiences while he was a National Park Service student technician in history and had been assigned to Longfellow-Evangeline State Park. He wrote that the recreational area, a picturesque preserve on the banks of historic Bayou Teche, was developed by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees, supervised jointly by the National Park Service and the Louisiana State Parks Commission, as a rural shrine memorializing the early Acadians.”   (https://www.techetoday.com)