Alma Brunson Reed Knihy

Long before C.C. Duson--realtor, sheriff, and state senator--established his town on the Louisiana prairie, Cajuns, Europeans, and Native Americans had forged homes on the isolated site. Then in 1894, Duson's city auction enabled numerous ethnic groups to buy lots in the new town. Railroad construction brought Anglo, African-American, and Irish laborers, while Lebanese and Jewish merchants saw retail opportunities in Eunice. Fearful of war rumors in Europe prior to 1914, German families immigrated to prairie farms. In 1929, Italians arrived as theMississippi River's flooding disrupted their lives. By the 1930s, the Tepetate oil field was discovered south of Eunice, creating fortunes for Anglo workers. Men from nearby World War II military bases often settled in Eunice after marrying local girls. Eunice saw new arrivals as petrochemical plants and pipelines began construction in the 1950s. The diverse traditions of newcomers blended with the dominant Cajun culture, resulting in the rich gumbo of citizens' lives. Legendary Locals of Eunice celebrates some individuals who have contributed to the vibrantand diverse culture of Eunice through the years.

Beginning as a real estate venture on the isolated prairie of southwestern Louisiana in 1894, Eunice is now a progressive small city due to its traditions of volunteerism, community spirit, and resourcefulness. In the late 1980s, the city enjoyed a renaissance when a far-sighted mayor capitalized on the dominant Cajun culture to pull Eunice out of the economic crevasse of the decade's "oil bust." It emerged as a picturesque community with an emphasis on its rich history and its newly recognized heritage tourism. The city's unique Frenchness lures tourists and locals to the live Cajun music shows at the Liberty Center and to experience the joie de vivre at a rural Mardi Gras. The historic images found in Images of America: Eunice feature the day-to-day activities of Eunice's people through good times and lean days from 1894 to the late 1980s.