by KAREN LAGRANGE COX
The City of Broussard has two new Louisiana historical markers added to the city to document its history. Both historical markers were sponsored by the City of Broussard in 2022.
One marker is of Valsin Broussard, the founder of the city. This marker is located by the Broussard gateway sign at Main Street and South Bernard Road.
The second marker is of the Valsin House, circa 1876, the residence of Valsin Broussard, located at 408 West Main Street.
According to Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque, the bronze land markers were authorized by the Louisiana Historical Markers Program, under the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), in cooperation with the Louisiana Tourism Development Commission and the Department of History at Lousiana State University (LSU). Bourque also states, “These markers are the first of many to come.”.
Valsin Broussard Louisiana Historical Marker
Valsin Broussard
(October 1825 – March 1899)
Founder of the little town of Broussardville (December 13, 1856) and postmaster of Côté Gelée (June 1866 – July 1867). On July 24, 1874, he was appointed first postmaster of Broussard, as Côté Gelée was renamed in the records of the Post Office Department.
He was a prosperous sugar planter and a descendant of the “Beausoleil” Broussard brothers. In 1870, while appointed administrator of his father’s, Don Louis Broussard, estate, he succeeded in paying the debts and final settlement of said estate, and then was able to aid family and community members. Prominent in local public affairs, he managed to serve as an elected parish delegate for state conventions, commissioner of elections, juror, and other community roles. While being one of the most successful planters in the parish, he also conducted a flourishing mercantile business.
Valsin Broussard House Louisiana Historical Marker
Valsin House
(CA. 1876)
Here Valsin Broussard, founder of what is now the City of Broussard, established his family home ca. 1876. This two-story, gallery-fronted, Anglo-American and French-style home housed the Broussard family for generations. It served its industrious and thrifty community as one of the town’s first polling places for their parish and states elections.
Broussardville’s prosperity was bound to this house and the estate of Valsin Broussard, who donated his land, among other things, for the construction of this “chemin public,” a road from Broussardville to St. Martinville and to Royville (Youngsville), connecting Lafayette Parish to Iberville Parish.
