CHURCH HISTORIES Terrebonne Parish, LA CATHOLIC - ANNUNZIATA CATHOLIC CHURCH Submitted by: Cynthia Daigle Source: The Houma Daily Courier and The Terrebonne Press, Houma, LA. Last modified: 10 MARCH 2008 ================================================== NOTE: Most histories were submitted by the church to the Houma Daily Courier and The Terrebonne Press as part of the newspapers Sesquicentennial Edition. Not all churches submitted histories. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** ================================================== CATHOLIC - ANNUNZIATA CATHOLIC CHURCH Location in 2007 - 7382 Main Street, Houma, LA The Houma Daily Courier and The Terrebonne Press Houma, LA, Oct. 8, 1972, Sunday, Section E ANNUNZIATA PRODUCT OF GROWTH PROJECT Annunziata parish was established through the Houma Development Campaign Expansion Program in 1963. At this time a tract of land was purchased at the corners of Acadian and Oakland Drive. The boundaries were established from South Van Avenue, to Bayou La Carpe to Bayou Sale' and also the community of Ashland. This consisted of approximately 500 families. While the church and school complex were being built, Sunday Masses were held in Oaklawn School. Daily Mass was held in the temporary rectory, a house at 404 Hibernia Place. Rev. Ivern Bordelon was the founding Pastor and stayed at Annunziata from June 1963 to June 1966. Annunziata's priest moved into a semi-permanent Rectory at 301 Wildwood Drive in the summer of 1964. The second Pastor at Annunziata was Rev. Hubert Broussard from 1966 to 1969. In November 1969 Rev. William McCallion replaced Fr. Broussard and the Rev. Andy LePage became assistant pastor to Fr. "Mac" in Sept. of 1970 as a result of increase in parishioners which now numbered about 1,000 families. Our little chapel St. Margaret, which now stands at Ashland, was originally on the Waguespack property, a little farther down Grand Caillou Rte. It was pulled from there by a caterpillar tractor in 1933 by Mr. Joe Deroche. Mr. Doville Bergeron was doing the carpenter work on the chapel then it was put on a barge and moved in the bayou to Ashland. Mr. Deroche then pulled the chapel with the tractor from the barge to where it is presently located. Then Mr. Bergeron began fixing it up for the people of Ashland. Our parish was combined with St. Eloi of Bayou Dularge. The pastor then was Father Felix Miller. Several of the pastors who succeeded Fr. Miller were Father Abei Callout, Father Preston Marguette, Father Arthur Brue, Father Ropollo, Father Eugene Richaud, and Father Fredric Pooley. In 1960 a tornado knocked the chapel off the blocks and broke several statues inside. The people of Ashland got together and held a fair and collected enough money to repair the chapel again. Then in 1965 when Father Irven Bordelon was pastor, our parish was re- divided and Annunziata Church was built and we now belong to that parish. Sunday masses have discontinued on Ashland but we have weekly masses on Thursdays.