How Ville Platte got its somewhat unique name remains obscure in the minds of would be historians seeking the solution thereof.
Notations on the original plats of survey for the area that is now Ville Platte statedthat surveyors hadtouse pirogues and flat boats to properly do their work.Consequently, those surveyors referred to it as 'Flat Ville' or 'Flat Town', both of which, when translated into French, should be "Ville Plat" but wound up 'Ville Platte'. However, the name Ville Platte could have come from another source. In its early inception the hamlet of Ville Platte was the first community on level land met by stagecoach travelers coming from the North. Conversely, it was the last level settled area seen by travelers journeying northward from Baton Rouge and Opelousas. North of it were the hills of North Louisiana and south of it was the Gulf Coastal Plain.The area around Ville Platte appears to have been first settled during the last half of the eighteenth century, when Louisiana was under Spanish rule. The earliest record of settlement in the immediate area of Ville Platte was in the 1780’s.
[caption id="attachment_316" align="alignright" width="184"]![]() Ville Platte was incorporated on March 16th, 1858 by an act of the Louisiana Legislature, during the administration of Governor Robert C. Wickliffe. Act No. 97 of 1858, as it was known, was written in both French and English. The act made no provision for a mayor; there were five councilmen, and from their number they selected a ‘president of the council’. This remained the state of affairs until 1912 when Ville Platte volunteered to come under the general act governing Louisiana municipalities. Residents of Ville Platte and the surrounding area were, and are today, predominantly Catholic. The Catholic Church was first established in Ville Platte in 1854. Education was sporadic in the area until the 1880’s when the Evangeline Academy was founded. In 1911 when Evangeline Parish was created out of imperial St. Landry, the Academy became Ville Platte High School. With the creation of this new parish of Evangeline, Ville Platte was made the parish seat of government, a factor that was bound to cause increase in the town’s population. In 1900 Ville Platte had a population of 163. When the railroad came to Ville Platte in 1907 the community began to grow and develop. The town had now lost its ‘one-street’ status and streets were laid out in a grid pattern, many of them dead-ending on Main Street. By 1910 the population had reached 603. By 1920 the number was a little over 1350. It was in 1930 to 1940 that Ville Platte had its first boom. The population jumped from 1722 in 1930 to 3721 in 1940. This was due largely to the discovery of oil in the Tate Cove area about six miles north of Ville Platte. World War II served to increase the boom, and by 1950 the population reached the neighborhood of 6600. The discovery of oil brought about the establishment of oil field industries and a carbon black plant providing more employment opportunities for the Ville Platte citizens.![]() Today, Ville Platte is rich in history, legend, agriculture, timber, natural resources, and in dedicated people. It is a colorful little city situated about 80 miles west of Baton Rouge and 45 miles south of Alexandria, on U.S. Highway 167. It’s population is now slightly over 10,000. Google Map
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