Acadia

Formed October 6, 1886 (59^th parish)

Acadia Parish (57,569), Crowley (11,705)

A masonry Art Deco facility sits in the city square.  It was constructed in 1951 in downtown Crowley.  The structure is located at the corner of North Parkerson at Hutchinson.  Louisiana State Highway 13 is North Parkerson until it meets with United States Highway 90 four blocks south of the courthouse.  The first courthouse was built in Crowley in 1888.  There was a courthouse built in 1902 also in Crowley.  Crowley has been the only parish seat.  An Administrative Building has been added in 2012 by converting the old jail.  Acadia Parish was part of Saint Landry Parish until October 6, 1886 when it was separated into its own parish as the 59^th parish.  Theodore L. Perrien is the architect for this modern looking facility.  Acadia Parish was named by a priest, Father Anthoioz, after the Acadia region of Spain where many settlers had original ancestors.  Crowley was named for local railroad man Pat Crowley. 

Acadia Parish government consists of a President, a sheriff, a clerk, a treasurer,  and a coroner (executive).  It has 8 Police Jury Members (legislative.)  Thirteen District Court Judges serve Acadia, Lafayette and Vermillion parishes and Five Justice Court Judges serve Acadia Parish (judicial.) The parish is situated in southeastern Louisiana, east of Lake Charles, Louisiana and west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The parish center is 4.5 miles North of Crowley.  The parish is surrounded clockwise by Saint Landry, Lafayette, Vermilion, Jefferson Davis, and Evangeline parishes.  The parish has the shape of a box of popcorn but none of the sides are straight.  The Bayou Nezpique forms the western border of the parish.  Crowley is in the southern third of the parish.  Crowley is the parish seat and the largest city.  It is 20.3% of the parish population.  The parish is pronounced A-CAE-DEE-A.  The parish seat is pronounced CROU-LEE. 

The area of the parish is 658 square miles.  It is 36 out of 64 in the state.  It ranks 18 out of 64 in population in the state.  It has a density of 87.5 persons per square mile making it 19 out of 64 in the state.  Acadia Parish has 46.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 cuts across the parish east to west from Lafayette Parish to Jefferson Davis Parish.  United States Highway 90 parallels Interstate Highway 10 from Lafayette to Jefferson Davis parishes.  United States Highway 190 crosses the northern tip of the parish from Saint Landry Parish, on the east, to Jefferson Davis Parish, on the west.  This parish is in the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Eunice