Acadia Parish Tourist Commission

HISTORY OF CHURCH POINT

"The Buggy Capital Of The World"
L’Eglise a la Pointe
(church at the point)

Church Point officially began its history in 1873, with the establishment of the first Post Office. However, before a post office could be established to serve a community, first there must be people to be served.

This brings us back to 1800, when Etienne d’Aigle III came to the area, then known as Plaquemine Brulee. The French influence was seen in place names of the area. When a clearing was made by burning underbrush this was called a Brulee. This settlement was called Plaquemine Brulee because it was a burned over area where Bayou Plaquemine came to a point, hence Plaquemine Brulees. In 1800 Plaquemine Brulee was a part of the St. Landry Parish, a vast area which stretched from the Atchafalaya River on the east to the Sabine on the west. In 1886, when Acadia Parish was carved out of St. Landry, the area became a part of the newly created parish.

During the early 1800’s agriculture, as we know it today, was practically nonexistent. The cotton gin had just been invented, but cotton production did not get a good start in Louisiana until shortly before the Civil War. Roads and trails were in poor condition for travel. There were no railroads and the only link to the outside was to travel to the Port of Opelousas at Washington, La. Here travelers could take a boat down Bayou Courtableau to the Teche, thence to the Atchafalaya Basin, the Mississippi River and New Orleans, Plaquemine Brulee was frontier country.

Earliest Spanish land grants and sales show that pioneer settlers acquired land located on the bayou, sufficient only for their own use. The prairie land was open range where the cattle roamed at large. Lack of transportation, the unfeasibility of fencing in the prairie lands of the sparsely settled area made it virtually impossible for the settlers to grow agricultural produce to any extent. Therefore the early settler was primarily a cattleman and horse breeder, required to have his own brand recorded in the St. Landry Parish records. Feuds and range wars erupted over cattle claims; vigilante groups were organized to prevent cattle rustling.

During the decade after the Civil War ended, and event of historic significance took place in Plaquemine Brulee.

The first post office was established on Sept. 29, 1873. This marks the date when Plaquemine Brulee began to known as Church Point. This date was when the settlement was officially recognized as a community, and Church Point was "on the map". Jules David was the first postmaster. The name Church Point derived from both the original name, Plaquemine Brulee and the first chapel provided by the Daigle Brothers.

The establishment of a school was a natural consequence of community growth. This event took place in 1856, some 13 years after the Daigle brothers came to Plaquemine Brulee, and 8 years after the first chapel was secured.

The twinning of Church Point, La. with Church Point, Nova Scotia took place in 1987 had brought about revival of interest in its French culture. There are many French-speaking people in our area. We also enjoy the "joie de vivre" in our Cajun cuisine and our music, which is being revived by the many French bands in Church Point.

Church Point enjoys the distinction of having the largest private owned wholesale grocery & liquor companies in the area as well as the Acadia-St. Landry Hospital now owned and operated by Lourdes of Lafayette. We have an excellent police department, a well-trained volunteer fire department. Church Point can boast of a sausage kitchen, which makes a first class sausage, tasso, boudin, and hogshead cheese, all Cajun delicacies. One only has to ride through the surrounding countryside to see the many fields of crawfish ponds which furnish crawfish to be processed or boiled. Much rice & soybeans are grown in fields were crawfish are produced as a second crop.

The ancient custom of celebrating Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) the last day before the solemn observation of Lent begins, was uniquely carried on in rural areas of Louisiana inhabited by Acadians.

The men of the community, wearing masks and motley costumes, would band together and ride horseback over the countryside offering to perform dances and comic antics in return for gifts. This was "Courir Mardi Gras", which   translates, "to run Mardi Gras".

The Courir is still held every year on the Sunday preceding Mardi Gras and has attained national fame and publicity.

Another major attraction to Church Point is the annual Buggy Festival which takes place on the weekend around July 4^th. This Festival was begun in 1983 by the Medical Foundation of Acadia-St. Landry Hospital as a means of raising money to buy much needed equipment for the hospital. It is a tremendous success and brings in more tourists each year because of the horse and buggy parade, a one-of-a-kind parade.