It is Louisiana's fourth-most populous city with a census population of ,; [ 4 ] the consolidated city-parish's population was , in Originally established as Vermilionville in the s and incorporated in , [ 7 ] Lafayette developed as an agricultural community until the introduction of retail and entertainment centers, and the discovery of oil in the area in the s. Since the discovery of oil, the city and parish have had the highest number of workers in the oil and natural gas industry in Louisiana as of As a result of its growth, the city and region have become major centers for the technology industry ; [ 12 ] [ 13 ] Lafayette also became a major center for health care and social services , aerospace , banking and retail.
Lafayette is home to a diverse population from Louisiana Creole and Cajun backgrounds. Lafayette is named after Marquis de Lafayette. The city was originally founded in as Vermilionville. The Attakapa Native Americans inhabited this area at the time of the first European encounter. French colonists founded the first European settlement, Petit Manchac , a trading post along the Vermilion River. Jean Mouton, an Acadian settler, donated land to the Roman Church for construction of a small Catholic chapel at this site.
In , this area was selected for the Lafayette Parish seat and was named Vermilionville, [ 7 ] for its location on the river; in , the Louisiana State Legislature approved its incorporation.
The area was initially developed by Europeans for agriculture, primarily sugar plantations , which depended on the labor of numerous enslaved Africans and African Americans. They made up a large percentage of the antebellum population. Some free people of color lived in Lafayette Parish, as well; [ 32 ] [ 33 ] they made up 3 percent to a low of 2. In , Vermilionville was renamed for General Lafayette , a French aristocrat who had fought with and significantly aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
After the American Civil War , most of the labor was done by freedmen , who worked as sharecroppers. From the s, mechanization of agriculture began to reduce the need for farm workers. It opened in , and changed its name to the University of Southwestern Louisiana in In the s, after oil was discovered in the parish, the petroleum and natural gas industries expanded to dominate the economy.
