He and his brother, W.W. Duson, had already founded Crowley, Louisiana in 1887, and he looked to the north of the parish for future development.
Next, he persuaded the Southern Pacific Railroad to extend a branch line from Crowley to his new town.
[5][6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12.1 km2), all land.
Louisiana Highway 13 and U.S. Highway 190 pass through the center of Eunice with U.S. 190 heading west 26 miles (42 km) to Kinder and east 21 miles (34 km) to Opelousas, the seat of St. Landry Parish.
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.
Acadia to the south actually borders most of the southern city limits, in a close west to east parallel line, with Sittig Street in the center, parish road 7-23 to the east, and both just inside the St. Landry Parish.
[10] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,422 people, 3,642 households, and 2,470 families residing in the city.
[14] The City of Eunice and the National Park Service sponsor "Laissez les bons temps rouler au rendezvous des cajuns", a live Cajun music show every Saturday night at the Liberty Theatre, an old movie theater that was restored by a "coup de main" by local volunteers after falling into disrepair.
[15] Eunice is home to the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, a unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve.
[16] Eunice is host to one of the largest Courir de Mardi Gras (traditional rural French Louisiana Mardi Gras observance,)[17] as well as the World Championship Crawfish Étouffée Cook-off.
In 2015, The Eunice Rotary Club and the Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve teamed up to host a revitalized folklife festival known as the Experience Louisiana Festival[18] held each October on the campus of LSU Eunice.