St Martinville

City in southern Louisiana, on the Bayou Teche, 72 km/45 mi southwest of Baton Rouge; population (1990) 7,100. Farming, fishing, nearby oil and gas production, some light industry, and tourism are all important. The Longfellow-Evangeline State Commemorative Area, just north along the bayou, recalls Acadian history.

History Refugees from Acadia settled the area in the 1760s, during which time the reunion of the separated lovers whose story gave rise to Longfellow's poem Evangeline (1847) is supposed to have taken place under the Evangeline Oak (still standing). Following the French Revolution, many royalists and other exiles arrived to join the Acadians. A river resort in the early 19th century, St Martinville declined before the Civil War, and gradually became agricultural.