Lafayette is a city located along the Vermilion River in southwestern Louisiana. The city of Lafayette is the fourth-largest in the state, with a population of 127,657 according to 2015 U.S. Census estimates. It is the principal city of the Lafayette, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a 2015 estimated population of 490,488. The larger trade area or Combined Statistical Area of Lafayette-Opelousas-Morgan City CSA was 627,146 in 2015. Lafayette is the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. Its nickname is The Hub City.The Attakapas Native Americans were the first known inhabits of the land where present-day Lafayette sits. The first European settlement in the area was Petit Manchac, a trading post. Jean Mouton, a French-speaking man of Acadian descent, donated land to the Catholic church where a small Catholic chapel stood. This motivated Lafayette Parish voters in 1824 to select the area surrounding the church as the Lafayette Parish seat.