Vermilion a leader in historic preservation

• By DAMON VEACH
• Special to Magazine
• Published: Sep 28, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Not many parishes in Louisiana can claim as much historical preservation as Vermilion Parish. After two very successful books on the parish published by the Vermilion Historical Society, avid historian Kenneth A. Dupuy has added yet another milestone to this parish’s illustrious historical publications.

Journey into the Past, Abbeville, Louisiana: The Early Years tells the story of the only town in the U.S. that was founded by a Catholic priest who personally bought the property, subdivided it, and sold lots.

That priest was Antoine Desire Megret, who left France in controversy only to come to the new world to find himself in the middle of a revolt of local parishioners. Thus the town of Abbeville came into being.

According to another parish historian, Gary Theall, in his foreword to this book, Dupuy established his credentials as the premier historian of Abbeville even though he has never lived in Abbeville. This Houston native moved with his wife to her place of origin, a small town called Maurice. As a hobbyist, Dupuy collected historical artifacts and often came to Abbeville looking for things like old medicine bottles.

He researched the local newspaper for more information on the bottles and became fascinated with Abbeville’s history.

Abbeville is a small town that shows off its history with pride through historic preservation. Its residents are made up of Cajuns, Jews, Anglo-Americans, African-Americans, Italians, and other nationalities, and the parish is still a place where agricultural products are important to the community and to its residents. It is both historical and modern, but the small-town atmosphere remains, and the community is held together by common interests that perhaps explains its more-or-less isolation from other places. Sugar cane, cotton and rice are important crops, and two major industries have emerged — Steen’s Pure Cane Syrup and Riviana Foods.

Dupuy joined the Vermilion Historical Society in the mid-1990s, and he constantly passes on information he learns about the town. He contributed a lot of information to the second volume published by the society, and this current book is the result of articles he wrote as a series for the local newspaper, the Abbeville Meridional, founded in 1856. He even found the history of the newspaper worthy of preservation and promotion. However, his sources of information took him into the courthouse records, minutes of meetings, personal diaries, interviews, microfilm, letters and other documents. He has come up with very readable and entertaining material, and the writing style adds nicely to the overall picture of his preservation work.

The directors of the Vermilion Historical Society encouraged him about publishing his material, and the results are this third major book that deals with this Louisiana parish. His stories of successes and failures encountered by residents make for fascinating reading. It is indexed for easy perusal, contains many pictures and illustrations, and it will make a wonderful addition to any coffee table display or decoration. This beautiful 345-page volume is available from the society for $45, postage and handling included.

The address for the society is P.O. Box 877, Abbeville, LA 70511-0877. Membership in the society for individuals is $5 per year, $10 for couples, and $100 for lifetime status.

You can’t beat these prices, and you get so much in return for your investment.

The pride shows in everything this society does, and you can check it all out by going to their excellent Web site (http://wwwvermilionhistorical.com), created and maintained by Theall, who is one of the society’s longtime supporters and an avid historian himself.

The two previous books are both on sale now, and if you haven’t purchased them, now is the time to do so. They would make outstanding Christmas presents, and you will be helping not only to support the society but to continue spreading the word about the colorful history of this part of the state.

History of Vermilion Parish, La., Volume 1 is also a completely indexed book containing 485 pages and published originally in 1983. It is a collection of family stories, historical topics, photographs, and other information relating to the history of the parish.