Information of Area Churches Submitted by Christine Shannon February 2004 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Place Parish Established Comments Old Biloxi, MS. (Ocean Springs) 1699 A small military fort. Mobile, AL 1703 Natchez, MS 1716 Robeline, LA 1717 New Orleans, LA St. Louis Church 1720 In 1788, St. Louis Church was destroyed by fire. A new church was completed and put in use in 1794, thanks to the generous donation of Don Andrés Almonester y Roxas (who is buried in the church). At this time the church was raised to the level of "Cathedral." La Balize 1722 (near the mouth of the Mississippi, Plaquemines Parish) German Coast, LA (Destrehan) Little Red Church 1723 later, St. Charles Borremeo Pointe Coupee, LA 1728 Natchitoches, LA 1728 Chapitoulas, LA (Metairie) 1729 Edgard, LA St. John the Baptist 1772 St. Bernard Parish 1787 New Orleans St. Patrick 1833 1975- Designated a National Historic Landmark. Convent, LA ca 1830-1833 Grand Coteau, LA ca 1830-1833 Vermillionville (Lafayette), LA ca 1830-1833 Thibodaux, LA ca 1830-1833 New Orleans, LA St. Joseph Church 1844 Buras, LA Our Lady of Good Harbor ca 1861-1865 Reserve, LA St. Peter ca 1861-1865 New Orleans, LA St. Francis de Sales ca 1870-1888 New Orleans, LA Our Lady of Sacred Heart ca 1870-1888 New Orleans, LA Sacred Heart of Jesus ca 1870-1888 New Orleans, LA Our Lady of Good Counsel ca 1870-1888 Kenner, LA Our Lady of Perpetual Hope ca 1870-1888 Taft, LA (Hahnville) Our Lady of the Holy Rosary ca 1870-1888 Abita Springs, LA St. Jane de Chantal ca 1870-1888 New Orleans, LA Holy Name of Jesus 1892 New Orleans, LA St. Francis of Assisi 1889-1893 Replaced in 1918 (on Ursulines St.) by St. Mary's New Orleans, LA St. Anthony 1889-1893 Replaced in 1918 (on Rampart St.) by St. Mary's New Orleans, LA St. Catherine's 1895 designated for those (on Tulane) of African descent New Orleans, LA Blessed Sacrament ca 1904-1914 New Orleans, LA Corpus Christi ca 1904-1914 New Orleans, LA St. Dominic ca 1904-1914 later, St. Joan of Arc New Orleans, LA Holy Ghost ca 1904-1914 New Orleans, LA Our Lady Star of the Sea 1911 First church destroyed in a hurricane 1915. New Orleans, LA St. Mary's Church 1918 Known as "St. Mary's (on Chartres Street) Italian" Belle Chase, LA ca 1918-1941 Folsom, LA ca 1918-1941 Gretna, LA ca 1918-1941 Jefferson, LA ca 1918-1941 Lafitte, LA ca 1918-1941 Merrero, LA ca 1918-1941 Metairie, LA ca 1918-1941 Reserve, LA ca 1918-1941 Westwego, LA ca 1918-1941 Diocesean Boundaries: From the beginning of its history, Louisiana had been placed under the Bishop of Quebec; in 1696 the priests of the seminary of Quebec petitioned the second Bishop of Quebec for authority to establish missions in the west. The field for which they obtained this authority (1 May, 1698), was on both banks of the Mississippi and its tributaries. Its original territory comprised the ancient Louisiana purchase and East and West Florida, being bounded on the north by the Canadian line, on the west by the Rocky Mountains and the Rio Perdito, on the east by the Diocese of Baltimore, and on the south by the Diocese of Linares and the Archdiocese of Durango. In July of 1703, Mobile AL became the center of a new parish. In 1918, the diocese was moved to New Orleans. In 1793 the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas was created by the Spanish. The diocese stretched from Key West Florida, below the American colonies and west of the Mississippi River into Canada. The 1803 Louisiana Purchase incorporated most of the Diocese of Louisiana into the United States; its boundaries were further clarified when Louisiana was admitted to the Union as a state in 1812. In 1826, the Diocese of St. Louis was created, encompassing the northern part of the diocese. In 1829, the Diocese of Mobile was established. By 1830, the Diocese of New Orleans, as it was now known, was reduced in size to present-day Louisiana and Mississippi. In 1837, the Diocese of Natchez, comprising the state of Mississippi, was established. In 1853, North Louisiana was made a separate diocese with its see city in Natchitoches and Father Auguste Martin as the first bishop. In 1850, New Orleans became an archdiocese with Antoine Blanc as its first archbishop. The archdiocesan boundaries were redrawn in 1961 with the establishment of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. The new diocese included eleven civil parishes. The boundaries of the Province of New Orleans became coterminous with the state of Louisiana after the establishment of the Provinces of Oklahoma City in 1973 (Oklahoma and Arkansas) and Mobile in 1980 (Alabama and Mississippi). Three new dioceses were created in Louisiana: Houma-Thibodaux in 1977; Lake Charles in 1980, and Shreveport in 1986. Sources: Free tour of St. Louis Cathedral Archdiocese of New Orleans website; History of the Archdiocese pages; http://www.archdiocese-no.org/history/index.htm; online February 21, 2004. New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia; http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11005b.htm; online February 21, 2004. Holy Name of Jesus Parish; http://www.hnjchurch.org/about_us.html; online February 21, 2004. A Concise History of Holy Name of Jesus Church.pdf, created Sept. 10, 2003. Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church; Our Parish History; http://olss-no.com/history.htm; online February 21, 2004. St. Joseph Catholic Church; History of St. Joseph Catholic Church; http://www.gnofn.org/~vincent/history.htm; online February 21, 2004. St. Patrick's Church; A Brief History; http://www.oldstpatricks.org/ourhistory.htm; online February 21, 2004.