Editing Abbeville, Louisiana (section)

== History ==
Formerly called La Chapelle, the land that became Abbeville was purchased by founding father Père Antoine Désiré Mégret ("Père" is [[French language|French]] for "Father"), a [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchin]] missionary on July 25, 1843, for $900. There are two hypotheses as to how the town was named. The more generally accepted hypothesis is that Mégret named the town after his [[Abbeville|home in France]]. The second hypothesis states that it is a combination of "Abbé" (the French word for "Abbot") for Abbé Mégret, and "ville" (the French word for "Town") – hence Abbé's town. Some support for the second theory can be found in the fact that the town in France is pronounced differently (as "Abbville") by its denizens. However, in 1995, Jean Desobry discovered in the diocesan archives of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amiens|Amiens]] evidence that Antoine Jacques Désiré Mégret was born on May 23, 1797, in Abbeville, France, thus confirming the first hypothesis.<ref name=theall>{{harvnb|Theall|1996}}</ref> Dr Mary-Theresa MacCarthy wrote in her article ''Un Autre Abbeville'' in the 1996 edition of Bulletin de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie (translation by Father Hebert),

<blockquote>On February 12, 1844, the pastor gave to his American town the name of the town of his birth. Residents find this name especially fitting because of the French word abbé which means father [or priest] added to the French word ville [which means town]. Their Abbeville is truly la ville de l'abbé [the priest's town].<ref name=theall/></blockquote>

Settlers were primarily descendants of the [[Acadian]]s from [[Nova Scotia]] that moved to the area from 1766 to 1775. The town was incorporated in 1850.<ref name=Colliers/>
There were two people living on the land at the time, Joseph LeBlanc and his wife Isabelle Broussard, whose former home Father Megret converted into a chapel. The chapel burned in 1854 and, in 1910, [[St. Mary Magdalen Church, Rectory, and Cemetery|St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church]] was built, which still stands today.<ref>{{harvnb|Lawson|2015}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=self-published website by private party|date=May 2015}}

Father Megret modeled his original plan for the village after a French Provincial village. In a map he designed in 1846, the town was 38 to {{convert|40|acre|m2}} in size. It was bounded on the north by St. Victor Boulevard, on the south by Lafayette Boulevard, on the east by "the Sisters of Charity", and on the west by [[Bayou Vermilion]]. At this point in time the town was called "Abbville".

The center of downtown is Magdalen Square, which is accented by large oak trees, a fountain, and [[gazebo]]. A statue in memory of Father Megret stands in the square. In 1856, the [[1856 Last Island hurricane|Last Island Hurricane]] destroyed every building in the town.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}