Opelousas Book Featured at Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge

Opelousas will be one of the featured books at this year’s Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge on Saturday, October 29, 2022.

The Book – Opelousas
Opelousas, known as one of Louisiana’s oldest European settlements of the 18^th century, takes its name from the Opelousas tribe, who roamed the area for years before the first French explorers arrived.

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the community was called Opelousas Church for a while until it was officially incorporated as a town in 1821. Known for its hospitality, music, cuisine, and cultural diversity, Opelousas prospered during antebellum times, survived the Civil War, and suffered through the period of Reconstruction. In the late 1870s, the town again began to flourish with an increasing population and a great number of new businesses. The coming of the railroad in the 1880s led to more economic development, and Opelousas grew to be one of the most progressive towns in the state by the turn of the 20th century. In the 21st century, Opelousas is again seeing a revival of its past glory and continues to be the seat of Imperial St. Landry Parish, a title it has held for over 200 years.

**^{Carola Lillie Hartley (Photograph by Flavia Alaya.)}**

The Author
Raised in Opelousas and Breaux Bridge in the Acadiana area of the state, Louisiana native Carola Lillie Hartley has written many published works, including books on Opelousas and Louisiana history. She spent over 50 years in community development and historic preservation, discovering and celebrating cities in states from Louisiana to Kentucky to New Jersey, yet Opelousas still holds her heart. She’s presented programs at local, state, regional, and national conferences, written Parlons Opelousas history articles for her hometown newspaper, and is now the publisher of the St. Landry Now online newspaper.

From 1988-1991, Carola was the Louisiana Open House Consultant for the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, Office of Tourism, traveling over 75,000 miles across the state visiting Louisiana rural communities. Also, during those years, she worked on a project with the LSU Sea Grant Program to help develop tourism in those rural communities and served as a member of the Louisiana Rural Tourism Taskforce. Carola worked for the city of Opelousas as tourism director and in 1993 became the first Opelousas Main Street director. She also directed Main Street Programs in Greensburg and Nicholasville, Kentucky and in Newton and Bridgeton, New Jersey.