Welcome to Patterson

Welcome to Patterson. . , What happens when a group of Dutchmen from Pennsylvania find themselves in Bayou Teche en route from New Orleans? They take up residence. Original names for Patterson were Dutch Settlement, Dutch Town and Dutch Prairie after German settlers who arrived there in the early 1800s. Dutch is actually a mispronunciation of Deutsch, the German word for "German." The name Patterson is said to come from a "Captain Patterson" who commanded vessels up and down the bayou, according to Shane Bernard's book Teche. Bernard believes it may have been Elam Patterson, who ferried sugar from St. Mary Parish to New Orleans and settled in the area in 1832. The town was renamed Pattersonville and shortened to Patterson when it was incorporated in 1907. A 2014 proclamation by the city of Patterson declares that the waterway between Patterson and Berwick "shall forever be referred to in the official records of the City of Patterson as the Lower Atchafalaya River.", High in the Sky , Harry P. Williams was born in 1889 in Patterson, and his father was president of the F.B. Williams Cypress Co. He entered his father's lumber business after college. Jimmie Wedell was born in Texas in 1900. He quit school after ninth grade and pursued his hobby for mechanics. The Williams lumber mill closed in 1929, so Harry took up driving fast cars and fast boats, which led to a quest for even more speed. Harry and his wife, Marguerite a silent movie star-met Jimmie in Patterson in 1927. Jimmie offered to sell Harry an airplane that was a duplicate of the one Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic. Jimmie taught Harry to fly, and a partnership was born. Harry invested $2 million to form Wedell-Williams Air Service, and Patterson became home to a flight school, amphibious service and aerial transportation. Ironically, both men died in plane crashes in the 1930s, two years apart. The Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport and Wedell-Williams Museum are a tribute to Patterson's pioneers of the air. Learn more at the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum., First Settlers , The Chitimacha Indians were likely the first settlers in the Patterson area and built a mound complex up to 9 feet high on the east bank of Bayou Teche. The three mounds, dating to between 700-1200 A.D, also included a large heap of clam shells, which were part of the Native American diet. Native Americans were also the first shrimpers of the region, catching the tiny creatures as early as the 1700s in rivers and lakes and eating them or using them for bait. , Idlewild Plantation , Now a private residence on Main Street, this historic 1850s plantation was used as a hospital during the Civil War. Idlewild was also a sort of makeshift hospital during the yellow fever epidemic of 1853. The outbreak is said to have spread from Franklin to Centerville to Pattersonville after a family of immigrants from the north arrived by steamboat. The town's population at that time was 600, and it's estimated that 500 people caught the disease, with 45 dying. On a 2019 episode of the Travel Channel show "Ghosts of Morgan City," ghost hunters investigated Idlewild, which is believed to be haunted by a nurse from the epidemic., Cypress Capital , Did you know that Patterson was once home to the largest cypress sawmill in the world? As a result, lumbering became Louisiana's first major manufacturing industry. Patterson's sawmill was owned by Frank Williams, father to Harry P. Williams, who bought up thousands of acres of swampland. The industry developed around the area's cypress swamps, and cypress lumber was harvested and milled locally, then shipped in mass quantities around the country until 1934. Oil and gas discovered on what was previously cypress territory ushered in a new industry, and F. B. Williams Cypress Lumber transitioned into the oil and gas business as Williams Inc. In 1997, the Louisiana state legislature designated Patterson as the "Cypress Capital of Louisiana.", BBQ Shrimp , 15 large gulf shrimp , 1 stick butter , 1/2 oz. white wine , 2 Tbsp. Cajun Seasoning , In a medium to large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Stir in the white wine and Cajun seasoning. Once combined add the shrimp and stir until done (approx. 2-3 minutes)., Shrimp Boom , Patterson and the surrounding area's shrimping boom happened almost overnight. In the early 1930s, a large population of jumbo white shrimp were discovered in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Shrimpers from Florida and the east coast flocked to Berwick Bay, making Patterson the center of the new industry. By 1941, Morgan City's fleet of shrimp boats brought in approximately a quarter of the country's annual shrimp harvest. Businesses like St. John's Shrimp Co., Twin City Fishermen's Co-op, Sea Shrimp Co. and Ramos Shrimp Co. set up shop, peeling, icing, packing and shipping shrimp throughout the country. Shrimping is still an important industry in South Louisiana, but hurricanes, oil spills, fuel costs and imported product make it a tough business today., "Dance the shrimp" , A process where shrimp were dried in the sun and immigrant workers walked or "danced" on them to crush the heads and shells so that they could be transferred to wooden barrels for shipping., Back to Bayou Teche , Slide guitarist Sonny Landreth's 1992 hit from his album "Outward Bound" is a love song about returning to the bayou. A woman asks her lover to: , Lay, chèr, just a little bit longer You'll be gone so long out West Stay, cher, just a little bit longer Do pass back to Bayou Teche , The pull of Bayou Teche both in this song and throughout history is strong, and Landreth captures the haunting quality of the bayou through his signature sound and lyrics. , 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 Patterson I cityofpattersonla.gov Wedell Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum louisianastatemuseum.org Cajun Coast VCB cajuncoast.com The TECHE Project techeproject.org