Opelousas

Town in southern-central Louisiana, USA, in Cajun Country, 35 km/22 mi northwest of Lafayette; population (2000) 22,900. It is the seat of St Landry Parish, and an industrial and agricultural centre. Industries are based on oil and natural gas discovered at nearby Port Barre in 1929; wood products, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods are also manufactured. Regional farms produce cotton, yams, rice, and cattle. Opelousas is a centre of zydeco dance music, and there is an annual Yambolee festival connected with the yam crop. The Texan frontiersman and folk hero Jim Bowie lived here in the early 1800s.

Opelousas was founded in 1720 as a French post on the western border of the Atchafalaya swamps, and named for the area's native inhabitants. In 1769 it became the capital of the Spanish district of Opelousas. The Louisiana Supreme Court was housed here until 1819 and, during the Union occupation of Baton Rouge, Opelousas was briefly the capital of Louisiana in 1863.