PORT BARRE

A busy port in the steamboat days of the early 1800s, Port Barre, the site of a French trading post 250 years ago, sits right at the point where Bayou Courtableau flows into Bayou Teche.

In 1733, the semi-nomadic Opelousas Indians petitioned the French colonial government to send traders to their district. A couple of coureurs des bois, who had come to the area in search of trade opportunities, set up a trading post where the bayous meet.

In 1765, Jacques Courtableau, a wealthy landowner, gave land grants to 32 Acadian immigrants. That same year, he sold a large parcel of land including the site of the first trading post to Charles Barre. The post later became known as Barre's Landing, then Port Barre.