Welcome to St. Martinville

Welcome to St. Martinville. . , Can you hear the church bells ring? Rising over St. Martinville is the steeple of Saint Martin de Tours Church, one of the oldest Catholic churches in America. The arrival of the Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1765 shaped the fabric of St. Martinville, and the church is known as the "Mother Church of the Acadians." A statue of St. Martin de Tours, patron of the town and parish, stands in front of the rectory. With the bayou just one block behind, the church square backs up to the Museum of the Acadian Memorial, the African American Museum and the Evangeline Oak. These sites tell the story of the expulsion of the Acadians in what's known as Le Grand Dérangement, along with the arrival of the Africans and the rise and fall of slavery in the Atakapas region., Le Petite Paris , One of the oldest surviving towns in Louisiana, St. Martinville began as a few slaves and indentured servants tending cattle. Early inhabitants were French, Acadian exiles from Nova Scotia and Royalist immigrants from Paris who had fled during the revolution. This influx of French settlers and Royalists gave the town the nickname "Le Petite Paris" (The Little Paris). French was the dominant language, and the aristocrats also brought along their customs, elegance and wealth. The arrival of the steamboat turned St. Martinville into a fashionable summer resort, attracting wealthy Creoles from New Orleans. The days of wealth and leisure ended shortly before the Civil War, but St. Martinville remains a charming town known for its opera house, bed and breakfasts, and historic district with 50 landmarks., "It was a pretty little village filled with barons, marquises, counts and countesses. Tales of exquisite balls, gala nights at the opera and theatre, private soirees and community gatherings tell of the ladies in elegant bejewelled gowns and men of distinguished French fashion escorting them. Even their country picnics were elegant in style." - Louisiana's Historic Towns, Jess DeHart, 1983, "That girl you think you see beneath the oaks beside the Teche, she is other than the girl I was. I was surely with all those other women forced to leave a life they had grown into, but I was never what they were, never a mother, never even married.... -Excerpt from "Evangeline Speaks," a poem by Darrell Bourque, Evangeline and Gabriel , One of the best romantic legends of all time tells the story of lovers separated during the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. Made famous in print by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1847, some believe the legend of Evangeline is based on the real-life story of Emmeline Labiche and Louis Arceneaux. Stories vary, but most versions start with young lovers torn apart by the British on their wedding day. Evangeline traveled to Louisiana with a group of exiles and met Gabriel beneath the oak tree in St. Martinville, but he was already married to someone else. There is no factual evidence that the story of Evangeline and Gabriel is true, but what is known as the "Evangeline Oak" on Bayou Teche has been the most visited spot in St. Martinville since the late 19th century., St. Martinville Brioches , 1 cup scalded milk , 63/4 Tbsp. dry yeast , 4 egg yolks , 3 whole eggs , 2/3 cups butter , 4 2/3 cups flour , 1 1/2 cups sugar , 1/2 tsp. lemon flavor , Cardamom seeds , Cool scalded milk. Add yeast and let soak until dissolved. Add whole eggs, yolks and butter. Fold in dry ingredients and knead 10 minutes. Let rise 2 hours in a warm place, then refrigerate overnight. In the morning, roll dough on a floured board, spread with melted butter and fold 3 times. Cut into pieces the size of an egg and place close together on greased pan. Let rise 2 1/2 hours or more. Bake 20 minutes in moderate oven. Cover with icing made with egg whites and sugar., Keystone Lock and Dam , Constructed between St. Martinville and New Iberia in 1910, Keystone Lock and Dam took three years to complete. The purpose of the project was to try and make the upper Teche more navigable for barges, as steamboat traffic was declining due to competition from the railroad. Several area residents donated land on Bayou Teche for construction of Keystone, which was named after an adjacent plantation, and the original facility consisted of a 175-foot dam and lock 229 feet long. The lock had a 160-foot chamber and gate bays at the north and south ends. Additional water was brought in by building a dam on Bayou Fuselier and Keystone Canal was expanded to divert water from Spanish Lake. By the time Keystone was complete, the waterway had even more competition from the automobile and highway system, and so was underutilized. Today, it's an area where paddlers must portage or carry their boat over land to go around the dam., L'Église des Attakapas - Attakapas Church , The name Fr. Jean Louis Civrey, who accompanied the Acadians on their journey down Bayou Teche, used to refer to his church parish. Attakapas Church eventually became St. Martin de Tours and led to the development of St. Martinville., Back to Saint Martin , Cajun band Feufollet has been around for 30 years, having formed when band members were teenagers. Their third album, En Couleurs, includes the song A Saint-Martin written by former band member Josh Caffery. "A Saint-Martin" is about a man who has been living and working in Texas for five years and decides it's time to come back home to St. Martin Parish. His mom lives in a little house in the country in Isle Labbé, a small Feufollet www.feufollet.net community outside of St. Martinville. The lyrics translated into English read: I'm going, yeah I'm going, "I'm gonna' die back home Where I was born, To Isle Labbé." , Find a complete Bayou Teche music playlist at techeproject.org! , The TECHE Project recognizes Shane Bernard, Patti Holland, Tami St. Germain, Chloé St. Germain-Vermillion and Erin Bass for their contributions to the content of this panel. , For more information, visit: , City of St. Martinville | stmartinville.org Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site lastateparks.com St. Martin Parish Tourist Commission cajuncountry.org The TECHE Project | techeproject.org