Alexander & Truman Neighborhood

Alexander & Truman Neighborhood represents a significant part of the long history of Civil Rights for Black families in Lafayette Parish. It was one of the first residential subdivisions intentionally developed by people of color. This neighborhood holds specific significance due to the late date for the development of a segregated Black neighborhood, and the inadequate sizes of most of the homes. Alexander Additions were developed on former agricultural land owned by Alexander Arceneaux heirs and partitioned in 1941. In 1946 and 1947 Alexander Addition subdivisions were recorded in the Lafayette Parish Courthouse by Paul Davis, husband of Mary Louis Thomas, Marshall Alexander (Arceneaux), husband of Emma Foote, Eva Alexander (Arceneaux) wife of Arthur Carter and Arthur Carter. Commercial buildings within the neighborhood include a culturally-significant grocery store called Wa-Wa’s, named after the owner, Wallace Mouton. Most residences began as moderate, 600 square-foot shotgun or minimal traditional forms, designed with a Craftsman architectural pallet. Many have been modified, and these modifications have become part of the historic significance due to the inadequate size of the original homes..