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is a city in and the parish seat of Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,145 at the 2000 census. Its name is derived from the French
The area around Ville Platte appears to have been first settled during the last half of the eighteenth century, when Louisiana was under Spanish rule. The earliest record of settlement in the immediate area of Ville Platte was in the 1780s.
Popular legend states the founder of Ville Platte was Marcellin Garand, an adjutant major in the Army of the French Empire, during the time of Napoleon. In 1824 Garand obtained one of the first two lots that were platted in what is now Ville Platte; a Doctor Robert Windex obtained the other lot. Those lots were obtained from the estate of William O'Donegan. This appears to be the actual beginning of, or the founding of the present town of Ville Platte.
The first post office in Ville Platte was established in 1842 with Marcellin Garand as postmaster from then to 1848.
Ville Platte also is the home of Chicot State Park which covers of rolling hills and water in South Central Louisiana. Chicot State Park has large amounts of deer, racoon, and other wildlife.