Saint Landry

Formed March 31, 1808 (19^th parish)

Saint Landry Parish (82,552), Opelousas (15,835)

The masonry Art Deco facility has palm trees as part of the landscaping.  This courthouse was built in 1939.  The structure is located on Court Street at Bellevue Street.  United States Highway 190 is on the south side of the building.  The courthouse was renovated in 2008.  Theodore L. Perrier provided the designs for the courthouse.  Earlier courthouses were in Opelousas dating from 1806, 1850, 1863, and 1886.  The parish was formed on March 31, 1808 as the 19^th parish.  The parish was originally part of Opelousas County.  The parish was named for an ecclesiastical district.  Opelousas is the name for a Native American tribe.  Saint Landry Parish was the birthplace of 3 Louisiana Governors, Andre B. Roman, John M. Parker, and Oramel H. Simpson. 

Saint Landry Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive).  It has 13 Council Jury Members (legislative.)  Four District Court Judges and Twelve Justice Court Judges serve Saint Landry Parish (judicial.) The parish is in south central Louisiana southeast of Alexandria, Louisiana and north of Lafayette, Louisiana.  The Atchafalya Bayou is the eastern border of the parish.  The parish center is 11.2 miles Northeast of Opelousas nearer Port Barre.  The parish is surrounded clockwise by Avoyelles, Pointe Coupee, Saint Martin, Lafayette, Acadia, and Evangeline parishes. 

The area of the parish is 939 square miles.  It is 16 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 16 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 87.9 persons per square mile making it 18 out of 64 in the state.  Saint Landry Parish has 42.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 49 comes in from Evangeline Parish to the northwest and goes south into Lafayette Parish.  United States Highway 71 comes from Avoyelles Parish, north, and terminates in the parish.  United States Highway 167 enters from the northwest, Evangeline Parish, connects with Interstate Highway 49 and continues south into Lafayette Parish.  United States Highway 190 crosses the parish east to west, Pointe Coupee Parish to Acadia Parish.  The shape of the parish could be described as a fat pistol pointing to the west.  Opelousas is in the southwest quarter of the parish.  Opelousas is the parish seat and the largest city.  It is 19.2% of the parish population.  The parish is pronounced SAENT LAN-DREE.  The seat is pronounced OE-PE-LOO-SAS.  This parish is in the Opelousas-Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area.