St. Landry Catholic Church

About this property

St. Landry Catholic Church is a historic Catholic church in Opelousas, Louisiana. The current church building, in Gothic and Romanesque Revival style, was completed in 1909. The church and cemetery were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States on May 5, 1982. By 1792, the church had been renamed from the original title, "Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Post of Opelousas" to the “Parish Church of St. Landry.” In the days of the early 18th century, the area of what is now known as Opelousas was settled by a number of Catholics, many of whom were from Nova Scotia and had no established parish in which to worship. Although there was no official church yet, there was a baptism that was recorded on May 16, 1756, by Fr Pierre Didier, at the home of Jacques Courtableau (now located in Washington, Louisiana). The early records of the church, which were saved by Fr. José [Joseph] de Arazena, the fourth pastor of the church of Opelousas from 1785 to 1789, mentions a Capuchin, Friar Valentin, as the first resident priest in 1764. By 1766 (some historians agree that a church building had been built by the end of 1765), a cypress church had been built along the Opelousas River (today Bayou Courtableau), and it became the parish church between 1766 and 1770. It was rebuilt in 1774 just north of present-day Bayou Carron. The records also show that the church was originally called La Iglesia Parroquial de la Immaculada Concepción del Puesto de Opeluzas (“The Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Post of Opelousas”). Worship at the present site was not begun until the year 1798, when the construction of a wood-frame building was completed, and the parish name was changed to "The Parish Church of St Landry". It is dedicated to Landry of Paris, a 7th-century bishop and saint. There is no actual record of the original location of the church, but it is believed, according to Fr. Michael Bernard Barriere, pastor from 1813 to 1817, that the church was located just south of present-day Washington, Louisiana, on the “Bayou.” He noted that: "During the year 1798, the present church was moved from the bayou (he spells it "Baillou") [from] the locality called 'Ponte a M. Tesson.'" Michel Prudhomme donated a section of land of 120 arpents (100 acres), 3x40 arpents in width/length, and M. Tesson donated a section of 1 by 14 arpents (0.84 by 11.83 acres). The land donated by Mrs. Tesson was located between the present site of the church and Bayou Tesson, also known as the Gully, to the west. The donation of land was made on October 16, 1796. Later the land donated by Tesson was sold to the Marguilliers and was known as the "Church Addition". A Marguillier is a churchwarden: churchwardens were a group of layman who were in charge of the church property and money. They governed the church and even controlled the salary of the priests in many cases. Michel Prudhomme is buried in the nave of the present church. Michel Prudhomme's French Colonial home, built around 1790, still stands near the church, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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