Best Web Design in Lafayette, LA (2026)

Web Design for Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette is the cultural capital of Acadiana, the south-Louisiana homeland of the Cajun and Creole peoples, where French is still heard in surnames, business signs, and everyday phrases. It is a place where oilfield economics and a deep-fried, brass-and-accordion party culture live side by side, drawing hundreds of thousands to festivals every spring and fall. In 2014 a widely cited academic study named it the happiest city in America.

AppWT works with Lafayette, LA businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Lafayette

Also known as. The Hub City. Heart of Acadiana. Hub of Acadiana. The Happiest City in America (2014 designation).

History. Settled by Acadian (Cajun) refugees expelled from Nova Scotia by the British beginning in 1755, an event known as Le Grand Derangement; Acadiana became their new homeland. Originally named Vermilionville for its site on the Bayou Vermilion; the town grew from land donated by Acadian settler Jean Mouton for a Catholic chapel. Selected as the Lafayette Parish seat in 1824 and incorporated in 1836. Renamed Lafayette in 1884 in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general and American Revolutionary War hero. Adopted a consolidated city-parish government (Lafayette Consolidated Government) in 1996.

Local economy. Long tied to the oil and natural gas industry after petroleum was developed in the region in the 1940s; remains a hub for energy services. Major employers include the Lafayette Parish School System, Lafayette General Health/Ochsner, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Schlumberger, Wood Group Production Services, and jewelry manufacturer Stuller Inc. Diversified into healthcare, technology, aerospace, banking, and retail; CGI and other tech firms have operations there. The 'Hub City' name reflects its role as the commercial and transportation center for the surrounding Acadiana parishes.

Culture and community. A signature Cajun and Creole food scene built on boudin, cracklins, gumbo, etouffee, and crawfish; the city consistently ranks among Louisiana's highest for restaurants per capita. Home of live Cajun and zydeco music, the accordion-and-washboard dance-hall sound native to the region. Festival International de Louisiane, held the last weekend of April, is the largest free/non-ticketed outdoor Francophone music festival in the United States, drawing artists from around 15 countries and roughly 300,000 attendees to seven downtown stages. Festivals Acadiens et Creoles each October celebrates Cajun and Creole heritage and famously opens with a 'Cutting of the Boudin' ceremony. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's teams are the Ragin' Cajuns, a nickname coined in the 1960s by coach Russ Faulkinberry for a roster stacked with local Louisiana players and formally adopted for all sports in 1974.

What makes Lafayette distinct. Named the 'Happiest City in America' in a 2014 study widely reported in national media. Operates one of Louisiana's few consolidated city-parish governments, merged in 1996. Maintains sister-city relationships across the Francophone world, including cities in France, Belgium, Canada, and Cote d'Ivoire, reflecting its French roots. French heritage remains embedded in daily life through surnames, place names, and vernacular expressions rather than surviving only as history.

Lafayette Landmarks and Local Life

• Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist - a Gothic Revival cathedral that is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, with a massive centuries-old live oak on its grounds
• Vermilionville - a living-history village and folklife park recreating Acadian, Creole, and Native American life of the 1765-1890 era with costumed interpreters
• Acadian Village - a re-created 19th-century Cajun bayou settlement with restored and replica period homes
• Alexandre Mouton House (the Lafayette Museum) - the former home of Louisiana's first Democratic governor
• University of Louisiana at Lafayette - founded in 1898 as the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute