The area which has become St Martin Parish was occupied by native Americans, primarily the Attakapas tribe, many years before the arrival of the Spanish. The Bayou Teche was a major trading route, which also serves the white man upon his arrival. In 1765 the French Acadian peoples that were driven from Nova Scotia began arriving and the Spanish established Poste de Attakapas at the site of a former Indian trading post. This became St Martinville.

Later former French Royalists arrived escaping the French Revolution. So much so that St Martinville was called " La Petit Paris " (the little Paris).

St Martinville thrived as the head of navigation for Bayou Teche, receiving shipments from New Orleans. The railroad bypassed St Martinville, following a route to the south through New Iberia.

In 1868 the state of Louisiana separated Vermilion and St Martin parishes to create Lafayette and Iberia parishes and in doing so, St Martin was divided into two parts. the Iberia parish panhandle dividing St Martin into north and south sections.

In the late 1800's Longfellow's poem found life with the Acadian people, the story goes a young woman named Evangeline was looking for her beloved Gabriel during the Acadian expulsion. Near Bayou Teche is the famed Evangeline Oak, a centuries oak where she waited.

For more information on St Martin parish, see http://cajuncountry.org/