Vermilion Parish

Vermilion Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 57,999. The parish seat is Abbeville. The parish was created in 1844.Vermilion Parish is part of the Lafayette, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area.Vermilion and neighboring Cameron parishes are represented in the Louisiana State Senate by the Republican Jonathan W. Perry of Kaplan.In the past several decades, much of the southern portion of the parish has been swept away by water erosion, especially after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005.HistoryIndigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years, from different cultures. By historic times, the Chitimacha and Atakapa inhabited the area and were the American Indians encountered by Spanish and French explorers and settlers. The tribes' numbers were drastically reduced as a result of exposure to European diseases to which they had no immunity.