Epiphany Episcopal Church of Opelousas
A group of committed Christians, desiring to form an Episcopal Church Parish (in Opelousas) first started praying and meeting in the Service of the Lord In 1839. In March 1844, Bishop Leonidas Polk arrived in Opelousas, and during a stay of several days, he baptized 11 adults and 10 children. This was organized by the Episcopal Diocese of LA as St. Mark’s Parish in 1855, with 10 communicants. The inaugural sermon was preached at the courthouse.
The first Church building, “Church of the Epiphany” at the corner of Union and Landry Streets in Opelousas, was consecrated by Bishop Polk on March 31, 1861. In 1880, a new Church was erected at this same location. In 1960, Epiphany Opelousas relocated to 1103 S. Union St, with construction of its third sanctuary. The previous Church building was moved to South City Park and has been used by the Opelousas Little Theatre.
In 2011, the Parish celebrated its 150th anniversary.
First Baptist Church of Opelousas
First Baptist Church of Opelousas was founded on November 6, 1880. Following a series of revival services held at the courthouse, a small congregation was formed. The first wood frame meeting house was erected on Bellevue Street in 1883. In 1952, a brick building was constructed. Today, the church building serves Bellevue Street Baptist Church.
Holy Ghost Catholic Church
Little Zion Baptist Church
Little Zion Baptist Church is the oldest Baptist church in the city. Organized in a blacksmith’s shop on June 29, 1867, the original congregation consisted of 16 members. Following the leadership of the Rev. J. P. Davenport, the church was named the Opelousas African Baptist Church. Two years later, the first house of worship was constructed by Joseph Corbes, who was paid $500. By 1887, more land was acquired from the police jury, and the church expanded. The name was changed to the Little Zion Church in 1892.
Louisiana Memorial United Methodist Church
The Louisiana Memorial United Methodist Church in Opelousas, Louisiana, is the oldest Methodist church congregation west of the Mississippi River. This church’s origins can be traced back to when Elisha Bowman came to Louisiana and organized a Methodist Society in 1806. He accepted 17 members the first year. Services were held in a community church between Landry and Vine Streets, near Cain Street. In 1846, a property was purchased from the Fonda family at North Lombard and East Bellevue’s corners to build a new church. In 1881 a parsonage was built. The church was replaced in 1902 with a new structure. The second church was torn down in 1955, and a new church was built that same year. The third church was consecrated on March 18, 1956, and renamed the Louisiana Memorial Methodist.
Mt. Olive Baptist Church
Mt. Olive Baptist Church can trace its beginnings back to 1897 when it was one of only two private schools for Blacks. The school was called the 7th District Baptist School and later changed its name to the Black Academy at Mt. Olive Baptist Church.
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Greater Union Baptist Church
The Opelousas First Presbyterian Church
The Opelousas First Presbyterian Church, now Hope Presbyterian Church, was organized on May 20, 1871. On June 27, 1871, the first service was held within the Louisiana Memorial United Methodist Church and future church services took place at First Baptist Church. In need of a church building of their own, the organization purchased the property at Main and Cherry Street in Opelousas on March 21, 1882. Hope Presbyterian Church is now a part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and is pastored by Rev. Dean Rydbeck.
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church In November 1940, under the direction of Father Colliard, several lots on the western edge of Opelousas were purchased from the “Mornhinveg Heirs.” Work on the church foundation began in December of 1941, with actual construction beginning in late January 1942. It was impossible to obtain electric light fixtures at that time due to war conditions, so temporary droplights were installed. The structure was completed and dedicated in October 1942. Our Lady of Mercy Chapel served as a mission of the mother church of St. Landry from the time of its construction in 1942 until March 1946 when Bishop Jeanmard signed a decree declaring the Church of Our Lady of Mercy dismembered from the Church Parish of St. Landry and erected as a parish of its own.
St. Joseph Methodist Church for Colored People
St. Joseph Methodist Church for Colored People, c. 1948
This small, single frame wooden church was built in 1948 as a house of worship for the African-American Methodist congregation in the rural St. Landry Parish community of Palmetto. The church purchased a parcel of land located at the end of Bihm Street from Mrs. Sallie Hawkins for $300.
The church, known as St. Joseph Methodist Church for Colored People, served the faithful until services ceased there in the late 1980s. In 2000, the church building was donated to Le Vieux Village by the Village of Palmetto, which also assisted in the cost of moving the structure. After the move to the village, the Opelousas Woman’s Club donated funds to help the city renovate the church.
St. Joseph Methodist Church for Colored People, vers 1948
Cette petite église en bois fut construite en 1948 pour accueillir la congrégation méthodiste afro-américaine de Palmetto, un village rural situé dans la Paroisse St-Landry. Les fidèles achetèrent le terrain, sis au bout de Bihm Street, à Mme Sallie Hawkins pour la somme de $300.
L’église, connue sous le nom de St. Joseph Methodist Church for Colored People, desserva la congrégation jusqu’aux derniers services religieux célébrés à la fin des années 1980. Le Village de Palmetto fit don de l’église au Vieux Village et contribua aux frais liés à son déménagement. Suite à son arrivée au village, l’Opelousas Women’s Club subventionna une partie de la restauration entamée par la ville.
St. Landry Catholic Church
Founded as the “Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Post of Opelousas” by Capuchin friars, St. Landry Catholic Church is often called the Mother Church of Acadiana because of the many church parishes carved from its original boundaries. The first church building was located on the banks of the Opelousas River (later renamed Bayou Courtableau) at Church’s Landing (now Washington, LA). In 1798, a wooden church building was constructed in Opelousas. The new church was renamed St. Landry, in honor of the Bishop of Paris, who lived about A.D. 650. A new brick church building was erected in 1827 and dedicated the following year. That structure was demolished in 1903 so that a larger church could be built. The present St. Landry Catholic Church was completed in 1909, with Reverend John Engberink serving as pastor. The historic St. Landry Catholic Cemetery is located adjacent to the church and contains graves dating to the early 19th century
Temple Emanuel
The history of the Jewish religion in Opelousas dates to the mid-to-late 1800s when the first Hebrew charter Gemiluth Chassodim, (Acts of Loving Kindness), was established in the year 1868. In early years, Hebrew gatherings would take place in private residences, masonic lodges, or other community facilities. Prior to the expiration of the Gemiluth Chassodim charter, the same Hebrew assembly began operating under the name Congregation Emanuel. In 1928, a plot of land on the corner of S. Main and Franklin Streets was donated to Congregation Emanuel by the Haas family. In 1929, a Synagogue was constructed at that location and a new charter established under the name, Temple Emanuel, whose guiding principles continued to operate under the name and style of Gemiluth Chassodim or Acts of Loving Kindness of its founders. The Temple Emanuel Synagogue was actively used for a thriving Jewish population for over sixty years. In the early 1990s; however, attendance to services at the Synagogue lessened due to Jewish youths leaving the area to attend college in other cities and states. The elder generation who remained in the area began attending services in the nearby city of Lafayette at Temple Shalom where a larger Jewish population continues, and more regular services are available. In time, the Temple Emanuel Congregation decided to close the Synagogue doors permanently. Despite the closure of the Synagogue building, many of the descendants of the original Gemiluth Chassodim charter (now Temple Emanuel), as well as other Jewish families, continue to live in Opelousas and practice their Jewish faith through alternative venues. While the Temple Emanuel Synagogue building was sold in 2021, the Temple Emanuel Congregation and the Temple Emanuel Jewish Cemetery continue to operate to this day guided by the founding principles of that first wave of Jewish Immigrants that came to St. Landry Parish and the City of Opelousas nearly 155 years ago. For more info:
St Landry Catholic Church Cemetery
Established circa 1798, St. Landry Catholic Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Opelousas. Located next to St. Landry Catholic Church donated by Michael Prudhomme in 1796. It is the final resting place of numerous New York Orphan Train Riders and many veterans of wars dating back to the American Revolution.
Myrtle Grove Cemetery
Myrtle Grove Cemetery, 1837
Once known as the Protestant Cemetery, Myrtle Grove is one of the oldest cemeteries in the area dating back to the early 19th century. At the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the site was parish property. Buried within the cemetery are soldiers from various wars conflicts including the Revolutionary War and Civil War.
Sometime between 1820 and 1830, the parish deeded the cemetery to the city. In April 1837, the city named a two-man committee to locate four arpents of land for a public-burying ground. In 1842, a sexton was appointed to the cemetery. The sexton was responsible for keeping the grounds in repair, digging graves, and keeping a record of those interred.
Graves had to be dug six feet deep at a cost of $5 for a free person and $2.50 for the grave of an enslaved person. The poor or those without means were buried free of charge. No one could be buried without notifying the sexton, and, if enough daylight remained, the sexton was to have the grave ready for the burial within six hours of death.
Cimetière de Myrtle Grove, 1837
Connu jadis sous le nom de “Protestant Cemetery” et datant du début du 19e siècle, Myrtle Grove est l’un des plus anciens cimetières de la région. Au moment de la Vente de la Louisiane en 1803, la propriété appartenait à la paroisse St-Landry. Des anciens combattants ayant participé à la Révolution américaine, à la Guerre de Sécession et à d’autres conflits militaires sont enterrés ici.
À une date imprécise entre 1820 et 1830, la paroisse transféra l’acte de propriété du cimetière à la ville. En avril 1837, la ville constitua un comité composé de deux hommes en leur assignant la tâche de sélectionner quatre arpents de terrain afin d’y situer un cimetière publique. Un fossoyeur fut affecté au cimetière en 1842. Son travail consistait à maintenir le terrain en bon état, à creuser des tombes et à tenir un dossier des enterrements.
Les fosses devaient obligatoirement être creusées à un profondeur de 6 pieds (2 mètres) et ce à un coût de $5 pour une personne libre et de $2.50 pour une personne esclavisée. Les pauvres et les autres sans moyens de payer furent enterrés gratuitement. Un enterrement ne pouvait se faire sans prévenir le fossoyeur. S’il restait assez de lumière du jour, la tombe devait être préparée dans les six heures suivant le décès.
Temple Emanuel Jewish Cemetery
Originally named “Gemilut Chasadim” (an Americanized Hebrew phrase meaning “Acts of Loving Kindness”) and known locally as the Opelousas Jewish Cemetery, this is the final resting place for many Opelousas Jewish families. The location sits on land donated to the Jewish community by St. Landry Parish in 1868. Located on Bellevue Street next to Myrtle Grove Cemetery, the Jewish cemetery contains over 130 graves. For more information, email: thetempleemanuelopelousas@gmail.com
Last modified: April 6, 2023
