Town of the Week, May 30, 1998

Take a visit to Eunice, Louisiana; just listen in.

Eunice, Louisiana

Accordians and fiddles rule the roost in the Cajun Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The museum was created by the Louisiana legislature in 1995 to honor the legends of Cajun music. It was located in the state's Prairie Cajun Capitol, in downtown Eunice.

Back in 1894, C. C. Duson sold lots here in this southwest Louisiana town, and named the crossroads settlement for his wife. Halfway between Beaumont and Baton Rouge, Eunice is right in the heart of Acadiana.

The town's centerpiece is the Jean Lafitte National Historial Park and Preserve, Prairie Acadian Cultural Center. A 1924 movie house downtown has been restored as the Liberty Center for the Performing Arts, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Next door, a live radio show occurs each Saturday night, the "Rendez-Vous des Cajuns," which tonight features Johnny Sonnier and S. J. Thibodeaux.

You'll also find out about Cajun and Zudeco in the Eunice Museum, which is housed in the old train depot. The World's Championship Crawfish Etoufee cook-off is held the last Sunday in March. This is a town of 11,500 residents, the home of the Bobcats and the Lady Bobcats, and our Town of the Week, Eunice, Louisiana.

. . . no other state has a more varied or colorful past than Louisiana. The state has been governed under 10 different flags beginning in 1541 with Hernando de Soto's claim of the region for Spain. . . . to get the vital region which controlled the mouth of the Mississippi River into American hands, President Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon in 1803. With the $15,000,000 acquisition of Louisiana, Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the fledgling U.S. and made it a world power. Later, 13 states or parts of states were carved out of the Louisiana Purchase territory. . . . in 1915, the name "Jazz" was given to music of New Orleans origin. . . . the Super Dome in New Orleans was completed in 1975, with a final cost of $163,313,315 for building and grounds.

Louisiana State Dept. of Tourism Official City of Eunice, LA Homepage

Motto: Union, Justice, Confidence Nickname: Pelican State Bird: Eastern Brown Pelican Insect: Honey Bee Flower: Magnolia Tree: Cypress Dog: Catahoula Leopard Dog

Info for "D'ja Know?" and "Fun Facts" compiled from the Louisiana State Government web site.