Welcome to the website of the historical society that the Baton Rouge Advocate has called "perhaps the best in the state."
Or use the Site Outline below.
Quick jumps to our most popular pages:
Miniature lighted buildings are sold here!
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Vermilion Parish Courthouse, Abbeville City Hall, School Board Building (first
high school), Fenwick Sanitarium (Palms Hospital), St. Mary Magdalen, Bank of
Abbeville, the Abbeville Depot
Our products may also be purchased at The Depot at Magdalen Place, 201 W. Lafayette Street, Abbeville, LA 70510.
The Vermilion Historical Society is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the collection, preservation, and dissemination of the history of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was formed in 1975 as a result of the renewed interest in history engendered by the impending national bicentennial. The Society published History of Vermilion Parish, La., a 485-page book containing historical topics, family stories, and pictures, in 1983. The second volume of that work, a 620-page book, was published in 2003, in conjunction with the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase. Our third book publication was Journeys Into the Past—Abbeville, Louisiana: The Early Years, by Abbeville's premiere historian, Kenneth A. Dupuy.
The Society also maintains a museum at the Alliance Center, 200 N. Magdalen Square, in the heart of Abbeville, Louisiana, as a part of the Abbeville Cultural and Historical Alliance. Historical artifacts, documents, and photographs are on display there, including the "Morgan Effigy," a deer antler carved by Native Americans about 1000 years ago. The sketch of the effigy shown above is the logo of the Society.
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Alliance Museum and Art Gallery
Inside this website you will find images of the people, places, buildings, and things of the past, documents and maps, biographies, articles on interesting historical topics, obituaries, newspaper articles, and a wealth of other information relating to the history of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Click the "Enter Here" button above, or choose a link from the Site Outline below. Click here to find out how to submit materials to the Vermilion Historical Society.
We sell miniature models of Abbeville buildings, Volume 1 and Volume 2 of our history book, History of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, and Ken Dupuy's Journeys into the Past—Abbeville, Louisiana: The Early Years. To order our products, go to the ORDER FORM PAGE, print it out, and mail it in with your check or money order.
Membership in the Society is open to the public. The dues are $5 per year for an individual, $10 for a couple, and $100 for an individual lifetime membership. Contributions to the Society are tax-deductible. We invite you to join us, and/or to browse around our site and return often. Membership is not required for browsing this site nor for attending our meetings and presentations. If you want to join, go to the membership form page, print it out, and send it in with your check.
I. News
II. Features
A. Journeys Into the Past—Abbeville, Louisiana: The Early Years
B. History of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, vol. 1.
C. History of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, vol. 2.
D. Abbeville Model Village Program
1. Adrien Nunez of Live Oak Plantation
2. Robert Perry of Perry's Bridge
3. Ambroise Lacour—Public Servant
6. Vermilion Parish Courthouses
8. History of the Abbeville Meridional
11. The Life of Lastie Broussard
12. Vigilante Committees in Acadiana 1859
13. Steamboats on Bayou Vermilion
15. The Life of Jean-Pierre Gueydan
16. The Life of Judge Wakeman Wakeman Edwards
17. J. Henry Putnam and the Rose Hill Plantation
18. The Railroad Comes to Abbeville
20. The Great Concord Street Fire of 1903
21. George Honold, Abbeville's Stellar Architect
23. History of Abbeville, by John W. O'Bryan, Jr.
24. The Fenwick Sanitarium (Palms Hospital)
25. St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 1
26. St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 2
27. St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 3
28. Stained Glass Windows of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 1
29. Stained Glass Windows of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 2
1. The Morgan Effigy, by Gary Theall
2. How Vermilion Parish Became Part of Louisiana, by Gary Theall
3. Père Mégret, Founder of Abbeville, by Ken Dupuy
5. Abbeville, the Early Years, by Ken Dupuy
6. The Early Sheriffs of Vermilion Parish, compiled by Ken Dupuy
7. Fatal Shooting in Vermilion Parish, by Ken Dupuy
8. The Masonic Temple, by Ken Dupuy
9. The Coming of the Railroad, compiled by Gary Theall
10. The Railroad Celebration, by Ken Dupuy
11. A Ride on the Train, by Ken Dupuy
12. Fourth of July in Abbeville—1889 and 1898, by Ken Dupuy
13. Abbeville, Louisiana: As It Was In 1894, by Ken Dupuy
14. An Abbeville Authoress, Mrs. Ophelia Cook Jones, by Gary Theall
15. Cannon from the War for Texas Independence, by Ken Dupuy
16. The Fire of 1903, by Ken Dupuy
17. The Fenwick Sanitarium (Palms Hospital), by Beatrice B. McClellan.
18. Gueydan Liquor Raid, by Patricia Heard Saltzman.
19. Animals of the Past, compiled by Gary Theall
20. Obituaries of
the First 100 People Buried in Graceland Cemetery,
compiled by Gary Theall
21. World War II—Eleven Abbeville Heroes
22. Biographies
of Those Buried in the Old Masonic Cemetery, by
Ken Dupuy
23. Abbeville Buildings,
seen from the rooftop of the old Audrey Hotel,
in the form of a slideshow
G. Vermilion Parish Biographies
1. Martin Bagley, by Michael Bradford
2. Ellis Hubin Bergeron, by C. Paul Bergeron
3. C. Paul Bergeron: A Cajun Boyhood, by C. Paul Bergeron
4. Lastie Broussard, by Ken Dupuy
5. Dr. Clarence J. Edwards, by Ken Dupuy
6. Eugene Isidore Guégnon, by Ken Dupuy
7. Jean-Pierre Gueydan, by Patricia Saltzman Heard
8. Reverend James A. Herod, by Ravin St. Julien-Brown
9. Christian George Honold, by Ken Dupuy
10. Judge William Kibbe, by Gary Theall
11. Dr. Francis Fenwick Young, by Ken Dupuy
1. The Clarence J. Edwards Collection
2. The Robert H. Smith Collection
3. The Wilmer Geoffroy Collection
4. The R. J. Guidry Collection
K. Sanborn Maps
III. VHS Pages
C. Order Form
E. Links Page
F. Site Map
G. Feedback
H. Site Search
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