My husband and I bought this beautiful old bank building in 2001. It was built in 1906 & opened for business in 1907 as the town's first bank, "Ville Platte Bank", although the railroad line had to be continued from Bunkie, LA in order to get the building materials to the job site! In 1911, after a decade long fight, Imperial St. Landry Parish was divided into two and five communities became a part of the new Evangeline Parish. To celebrate, the bank board agreed to change the name to "Evangeline Bank & Trust Co." In 1914 the prosperous bank built a new bank, but before moving, the board changed the name a final time to "The Evangeline Bank& Trust Co." The Evangeline Bank & Trust Co. is still in business today. It served as a bank twice more, then in the early 1930's it became a bar until the 1990's. When we bought it, the building was about to collapse, but we completed renovations and opened it as a reception hall in 2010. In 2011 it opened as a restaurant, but that closed two years later. It's now a reception hall once again, but we'd love to see it open again as a restaurant someday soon.