town, Somme département, Picardy région, northern France, near the mouth of the canalized Somme, northwest of Amiens. Stone Age artifacts unearthed by Boucher de Crèvecoeur de Perthes in 1844 attesting to early occupation of the site are displayed at the Musée Boucher-de-Perthes. The town originated as Abbatis Villa, a 9th-century dependency of the abbots of Saint-Riquier, and was chartered in 1184. Under the English (1272–1435), it was capital of Ponthieu. Louis XII's marriage (1514) to Mary, sister of Henry VIII of England, took place there. The Gothic church of Saint-Vulfran (15th–17th centuries) and the town hall with its 13th-century tower survived air bombardment during World War II, which destroyed the greater part of the town.

Abbeville is an important local administrative and service centre and is serviced by major motorways. Industry is limited but includes food-processing and metal goods manufacture. Pop. (1999) 24,567; (2005 est.) 24,000.

city, seat (1854) of Vermilion parish, southern Louisiana, U.S., on the Vermilion River, 20 miles (32 km) south-southwest of Lafayette. It was founded in 1843 by a Capuchin missionary, Père Antoine Desire Mégret, who patterned it on a French Provençal village. First called La Chapelle and settled by Acadians from Nova Scotia and Mediterranean immigrants, it was later named Abbeville (“Priest's Town”). St. Marie Madeleine Church (1910) now occupies the site of Mégret's chapel, which was destroyed by fire in 1854.

A trade centre for agricultural produce (rice, cotton, and sugar) and seafood, Abbeville provides services for nearby oil and natural gas fields. The city is linked with the Gulf of Mexico (Mexico, Gulf of) via the Freshwater Bayou Deepwater Channel. Avery Island, with a bird sanctuary and salt dome, is 15 miles (24 km) southeast. Inc. town, 1850; city, 1956. Pop. (1990) 11,187; (2000) 11,887.

city, seat of Abbeville county, northwestern South Carolina, U.S. French Huguenots (Huguenot) in 1764 settled the site, which was named for Abbeville, France, by John de la Howe. The city is regarded by some as the “Cradle and the Grave of the Confederacy”; it was there that a secessionist meeting was held (November 22, 1860, on what is now Secession Hill) and there that the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis (Davis, Jefferson), held a meeting (May 2, 1865, at Burt-Stark House) with some of his remaining officers and agreed to give up the fight. The statesman John C. Calhoun (Calhoun, John C) was born on an outlying farm. A services-based economy prevails with some light manufacturing. The Long Cane Ranger District of Sumter National Forest is nearby. Inc. 1895. Pop. (1990) 5,778; (2000) 5,840.

county, northwestern South Carolina, U.S. It lies in a hilly piedmont region bounded to the southwest by the state's Richard B. Russell Lake border with Georgia; the Saluda River forms the county's northeastern border. Calhoun Falls State Park is on the lake, which is formed by the Richard B. Russell Dam on the Savannah River. A large part of this hilly rural area lies in oak-hickory-pine woodland, and much of its southeastern section is within Sumter National Forest. The Savannah River Scenic Highway traverses the western part of the county.

The area was inhabited by Cherokee Indians at the start of European settlement in 1758. In 1777, near Due West, the Cherokee signed a treaty yielding extensive lands to South Carolina. Abbeville county was established in 1785 and named for Abbeville, France; the county seat is Abbeville.

Raising livestock is the principal agricultural activity. The manufacture of clothing and textiles is another major component of the economy. Area 508 square miles (1,316 square km). Pop. (2000) 26,167; (2007 est.) 25,457.