Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana

Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana
St Landry Parish Courthouse at Opelousas during the Civil War
Location in the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Founded	1807
Named for	Saint Landry
Seat	Opelousas
Largest city	Opelousas
Area
• Total	939 sq mi (2,432 km2)
• Land	924 sq mi (2,393 km2)
• Water	15 sq mi (39 km2), 1.6%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	83,848
• Density	90/sq mi (35/km²)
Congressional districts	3rd, 4th, 5th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.stlandryparishgovernment.org

St. Landry Parish (French: Paroisse de Saint-Landry) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,384. The parish seat is Opelousas. The parish was created in 1807.

St. Landry Parish comprises the Opelousas, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Lafayette-Opelousas-Morgan City, LA Combined Statistical Area. It is at the heart of Creole and Cajun culture and heritage in Louisiana.

The land which became St. Landry Parish was inhabited since at least 10,500 B.C., as deduced from excavations of three prehistoric dwelling sites. By the 15th century, the Appalousa Indians settled in the area situated between Atchafalaya River and Sabine River (at the border of Texas-Louisiana). The Appalousa were warlike and preyed on neighbors to defend their own territory.

The first European recorded in the Appalousa territory was a French trader named Michel de Birotte. He came in 1690 and negotiated with the Appalousa nation. Nine years later, France named Louisiana as a colony and defined the land occupied by the Appalousa as the Opelousas Territory. The area south of the Opelousas Territory between the Atchafalaya River, the Gulf of Mexico and Bayou Nezpique, occupied by the Attakapas Indians (Eastern Atakapa), was named Attakapas Territory.