Photo by Cheré Coen.

March 2011. Sun’s not going down on this quaint little town.

There are many stories as to how Sunset got its name, and most revolve around the railroad coming to this town just south of Opelousas and a stone’s throw from Grand Coteau.

Some believe the conductor of the Sunset Limited suggested the name, while others believe railroad workers applied the moniker at the end of their workday. Regardless, the community began after the railroad arrived in the late 1880s, a small commercial hub for area sweet potato farmers.

Today, the quaint little town has reinvented itself as a destination shopping experience, with a variety of thrift stores and flea markets, the extensive offerings of Mélange Antiques and Architecturals, plus the Sunset Antique Market, not to mention several artists’ galleries open on weekends—making it a great day trip or a new pearl on the strand of charming small Acadiana towns that serpentines from Breaux Bridge to Arnaudville on through Grand Coteau and finally Sunset.

Marvel Guidry, who owns Bayou Some Stuff thrift store, views Sunset as the starting point of the antique spectrum on one side of Interstate 49 with Grand Coteau offering more higher-end fare in their antique stores on the other. It’s possible to visit both towns within a day with plenty of great restaurants to choose from for lunch and dinner, she said.

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