Located on North Main Street in St. Martinville, 18 miles southeast of Lafayette, the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site is the oldest state park in Louisiana and focuses on the culture of the Bayou Teche area of the state. The Bayou Teche is a 125-mile long waterway in south central Louisiana, and the site explores various cultures of the region including Cajuns, Creoles, Native Americans, and more.
Henry Wadsworth Longsworth’s poem, “Evangeline,” tells the tale of two Acadian lovers, Evangeline and Gabriel, and the tree where they met and Evangeline’s grave are both located on the site. Guided tours of the Maison Olivier, a historic 1815 plantation home, are available.
1200 North Main Street, St. Martinville, LA 70582, 337-394-3754