Lafayette’s Oldest Business: How Lafayette’s Daily Advertiser Went From an 1865 Weekly to a National Network
LAFAYETTE, La. — The first issue of the Lafayette Advertiser came out on September 22, 1865. That makes today’s Daily Advertiser one of the oldest businesses still operating in Lafayette. Back then the town was Vermilionville, and “Lafayette” in the paper’s name meant the parish.
The paper has changed hands several times in 161 years. It started as a weekly and became a daily in 1914.
How a Vermilionville Printer Started the Lafayette Advertiser
William B. Bailey was born in Vermilionville on July 29, 1839, and learned the printing trade alongside his brother Abijah at the bilingual Echo of Lafayette.
Bailey enlisted in the Confederate Girard Artillery in 1861 and was captured. He later joined Lee’s army just before Appomattox, then walked home through parts of the Carolinas and Georgia. He reached Lafayette Parish on June 26, 1865, and soon became a partner in the new weekly.
Bailey ran the paper as sole editor and proprietor from 1868 to 1893. He also served as mayor from 1884 to 1892, beginning the same year Vermilionville changed its name to Lafayette.
A Belgian-Born Editor Brought French Back to the Paper
Bailey stepped away in 1893 to take a political appointment. Alfred C. Ordway edited the paper briefly, and then Henri A. Vander Cruyssen took over.
Vander Cruyssen was born in Ghent, Belgium, and worked as an architect there before switching to the drug business. He immigrated to New Orleans in 1884 and later settled in Breaux Bridge. There he ran an apothecary shop and edited a newspaper called L’Union de Pont Breaux.
By the late 1880s, the Advertiser had gone English-only. French content returned in full during Vander Cruyssen’s ten years as editor.
LeRosen and Alpha Turned the Advertiser Into a Daily
Wesley A. LeRosen and A. James Alpha bought the paper in 1903. LeRosen had served as principal of Lafayette High School and was an outspoken advocate for education in Lafayette Parish.
The paper ran as a weekly, then a semiweekly, before the first daily edition (volume 1, number 1) came out on April 20, 1914. Sunday editions ran under the name The Sunday Advertiser starting November 20, 1949.
From Thomson to Gannett to USA TODAY Co.
By 1998, the Daily Advertiser belonged to Thomson, a Canadian-based company. In June 2000, Gannett announced a $1.125 billion deal for Thomson dailies in five states. Gannett acquired the paper that year and named Chris Jensen its president and publisher.
Gannett changed its corporate name to USA TODAY Co. on November 18, 2025. The Daily Advertiser is now a USA TODAY Co. newspaper.
For those curious about back issues dating back to the beginning, digitized issues of the Lafayette Advertiser from 1869 to 1914 total nearly 9,000 searchable pages. The Daily Advertiser’s archive picks up in 1914 and runs through 2026, with more than 1.1 million searchable pages.
Other Old Names in Downtown Lafayette
The Sans Souci building at 219 East Vermilion Street is thought to be the oldest commercial building in downtown Lafayette. Accounts put its construction anywhere from about 1840 to the mid-1850s, roughly a decade or more before the Advertiser’s first issue. It has served as an inn, Lafayette’s first post office and, starting in 1943, a bookstore.
Keller’s Bakery Downtown opened in 1929 and is still run by the Keller family. The family’s first bakery opened in Abbeville in the late 1800s.
You May Also Like...
- The 8 Oldest Houses and Buildings in Lafayette
- Seven Forgotten Facts About Lafayette
- Check Out How Lafayette Looked 40 Years Ago
- Why Judice Inn Still Serves the Best Burgers in Lafayette After 75+ Years
- Stores and Restaurants Lafayette Lost — and Still Misses
For more on Lafayette's history...
The History Behind Lafayette's Street Names
Gallery Credit: Joe Cunningham
