CHURCH HISTORIES Terrebonne Parish, LA CATHOLIC - ST. PATRICK 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 - ST. PATRICK CATHOLIC CHURCH Location in 2007 - No listing in phone book found The Houma Daily Courier and The Terrebonne Press Houma, LA, Oct. 8, 1972, Sunday ST. PATRICK EARLY HISTORY A STORMY ONE In its early days the mission of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Gibson had truly stormy times. The mission was destroyed by a great storm in 1888 and was then rebuilt in 1889. It was then destroyed, again by storm, in 1897; it was rebuilt in 1900. A hurricane demolished that physical structure in 1909; yet the people did not give up on having their church, and once again erected the Edifier. In 1892, Fr. J.M. Laval while pastor of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, bought a piece of property on Bayou Black. On that property in 1894, St. Anthony Chapel was built. Fr. Moise said the first Mass in St. Anthony's. This chapel was then intended to serve the Catholic residents of the Bayou Black and Gibson area. Gibson was then being served as a mission by priest from the Thibodaux community, particularly Fr. Menard and Fr. Favre. The Gibson mission was later attached to the Houma church, then Morgan City, and then Bayou Dularge. The church records show that in 1896, Fr. Richard served the community, followed by Fr. Chastel in 1897-1898. The Archbishop established Gibson as a separate church parish, with Bayou Black as its mission, in 1921, having Rev. Charles Gescher as its pastor. The church's canonical erection, however, was held on March 24, 1925. At that time the pastor resided at St. Anthony on Bayou Black. After an act of incorporation was drawn in 1925, the seat of the parish was established at St. Patrick's in Gibson. The present Gibson Church stands in a corner of the cemetery across from Bayou Black. A new rectory was built in 1925. The island on which the rectory stands was donated by an old Gibson family. The Archbishop next appointed Fr. Cyprien Foret as pastor of St. Patrick in 1931. Rev. Foret was then succeeded by Fr. McLaughlin, Fr. George Landry, Fr. Edwin Gauthier, Fr. Andrian Callout, Fr. Jules Toups, Fr. Thomas Brady, and presently by Fr. M. Finnagin.