But for those who settled the Lafayette neighborhood called Freetown, independence would not arrive until nearly a century later.
Before the Civil War, black slaves sometimes were able to buy their own freedom. Others were freed by plantation owners they had served for years.
In Vermilionville, later renamed Lafayette, those free men of color settled in a new subdivision called Mouton Addition, which had been part of the Ile Copal plantation of Gov. Alexandre Mouton, according to oral histories collected by and for Lafayette attorney Glenn Armentor.Both blacks and whites of lower and middle class populated the area, but because of the high concentration of freed slaves, the neighborhood was nicknamed Freetown, an unofficial designation that endures today.
"Freetown is Freetown," said resident Phillip Murray. "The name goes with the neighborhood."
Freetown was at the center of a planning dispute that ended last week with the City-Parish Council allowing Capstone Development to build more than 140 apartments on Stewart Street for college students.
Residents worried that college students would upset the quiet neighborhood with loud music, speeding and drunk driving. Others said the apartments were not in line with the neighborhood style.
But the property is zoned light industrial, which could bring less desirable businesses into Freetown, councilmen explained.
Most of the history that exists of Freetown was passed down orally from generation to generation. They told how the original free men of color who settled Freetown helped others who were freed after the Civil War acclimate to this new concept called freedom and taught them how to conduct business.
After the Civil War, the free men of color in Freetown united against the terrors of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and others. The organization, called the True Friends Society, included an effective intelligence network that learned the target of an attack in advance and gathered at that home to meet the challenge using pick-axes, shovels, farm instruments and firing arms.
"They kept the Klan to a minimum in Lafayette," said Armentor, who was born in Freetown. "They were heroes. They stood up."
As Klan activity subsided, the organization shifted its focus to one of mutual aid in a time when there were no Social Security or Welfare programs.
A second group was formed in the late 19th century, calling themselves the Good Hope Society. The group built Good Hope Hall in 1902 at the corner of Gordon and Stewart streets.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Good Hope Hall hosted great American jazz artists, including Louis Armstrong and Fats Pinchon. Oral history has it that, to announce a performance on an evening, a trumpeter would play from the upper story of the building.
Ironically, at a time when blacks were not admitted to all-white facilities, Good Hope Hall admitted only blacks. White residents had to gather in the streets to hear the jazz tunes drifting outdoors.
Good Hope Hall served many uses, including dance hall, hospital, wedding site, print shop, art studio and barbershop, according to oral history.
Good Hope Hall eventually fell into disrepair. In 1981, young attorneys Gary Steckler and Glenn Armentor bought the building and restored it for their law offices. They added a large wing with multiple offices in 1985.
Armentor hopes to build another addition and create a park on Stewart Street with a walkway, water feature, bronze statue and Freetown Hall to commemorate the journey of the slaves and the historical significance of Freetown.
Freetown is not designated as a national historic district, said Jeff Larcade, a city-parish planner II. Sterling Grove is the only Lafayette neighborhood with the national distinction, he said. "Freetown would probably qualify," Larcade said.
Someone must take the initiative to spearhead the application, which requires a complete inventory of every building in the neighborhood and identification of those that fit the architectural style and time frame that makes the neighborhood historic, which would probably be 1850 to 1920 for Freetown, Larcade said.
"The lore and history from this building and this block are incredible," Armentor said. Armentor, who was born on Stewart Street, remembers black and white kids in his neighborhood playing around Good Hope Hall, using it as a fort. Some of those kids are adults now, still living in Freetown, he said.
Lafayette City-Parish Councilman Bruce Conque grew up on the fringes of Freetown, surrounded by railroad workers, including engineers and conductors.
Vacant property on Stewart Street was the site of visiting street fairs when Conque was a child. The homeless, called hoboes back then, set up camp on the lot, he said.
"My first job was a grocery store, Gary's. I remember when Jefferson Street had magnificent trees," he said. Ruth Brooks, 89, has lived in Freetown about 80 years. She described the neighborhood as quiet and pretty, the kind where neighbors all know one another.
"My daddy brought me here when I was a little bitty thing. It's where I bought property. It's home."
Thelma Martin has lived on Stewart Street in Freetown about 50 years. She married John Martin Jr. and, along with his father, John Martin Sr., made felt hats by hand for men in the city, including Armentor's father.
When Martin can get the materials she needs, she still sometimes hand-crafts hats in the shop next to Good Hope Hall.
In negotiations with Freetown residents concerned about the Capstone apartments' effect on the neighborhood, the developer agreed to buffer the exterior of the complex with two-story buildings instead of three stories and retain trees. The company also agreed to contribute $200,000 to the neighborhood for rehabilitation or beautification, to be decided by a three-person committee, two of whom will be from Freetown.