Presbytere, St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, St. Martinville, LA2
**St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 72001454, date listed 1972-04-10
133 S. Main St.
St. Martinville, LA (St. Martin Parish
This church was founded in 1765 by a group of Acadian exiles who arrived that year, the first of many of these unfortunate refugees, driven from Canada by the English, who came to Louisiana over a period of some twenty years. It was these exiles who established the Acadian culture and traditions that have left an indelible imprint upon the State of Louisiana. The French military engineer, Lieutenant Louis Andry, on order of Governor Charles Philippe Aubry, accompanied the first group of exiles to the Attakapas country and probably laid out the town and designed the first church.
A sketch of the early church drawn by Samuel M. Lee in the 1820s is in the collection of the Henry Francis Dupont Winterthur Museum. By an act of the State Legislature approved March 7, 1814, the church was incorporated and another act approved March 16, 1830 authorized the congregation to conduct a lottery to raise funds to build a new church. The present church was apparently erected some years after that, but the ceremony of consecration was not held until June 2, 1844. A contract for the construction of the present rectory, "Presbytere", was awarded on July 11, 1856 to Robert R. Benson, builder. Extensive alterations were made to this building mostly in the twentieth century, but the basic fabric of the building is intact and subject to restoration. The parish hall appears to be an ante-bellum building and may be the school which a contract was awarded on January 15, 1861 to Alcee Judice and Prosper Moity according to plans by R.R. Benson. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/72001454.pdf
Presbytere, St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, St. Martinville, LA2
**St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 72001454, date listed 1972-04-10
133 S. Main St.
St. Martinville, LA (St. Martin Parish
This church was founded in 1765 by a group of Acadian exiles who arrived that year, the first of many of these unfortunate refugees, driven from Canada by the English, who came to Louisiana over a period of some twenty years. It was these exiles who established the Acadian culture and traditions that have left an indelible imprint upon the State of Louisiana. The French military engineer, Lieutenant Louis Andry, on order of Governor Charles Philippe Aubry, accompanied the first group of exiles to the Attakapas country and probably laid out the town and designed the first church.
A sketch of the early church drawn by Samuel M. Lee in the 1820s is in the collection of the Henry Francis Dupont Winterthur Museum. By an act of the State Legislature approved March 7, 1814, the church was incorporated and another act approved March 16, 1830 authorized the congregation to conduct a lottery to raise funds to build a new church. The present church was apparently erected some years after that, but the ceremony of consecration was not held until June 2, 1844. A contract for the construction of the present rectory, "Presbytere", was awarded on July 11, 1856 to Robert R. Benson, builder. Extensive alterations were made to this building mostly in the twentieth century, but the basic fabric of the building is intact and subject to restoration. The parish hall appears to be an ante-bellum building and may be the school which a contract was awarded on January 15, 1861 to Alcee Judice and Prosper Moity according to plans by R.R. Benson. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/72001454.pdf