Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, September 30, 1997

Arnaudville formed as transportation hub

by Jim Bradshaw

Antoine Arnaud was a very early French settler in St. Landry Parish, acquiring a large plantation at La Jonction, the place where Bayou Teche and Bayou Fuselier meet. The place is now named for his family, Arnaudville. With its ideal location at the head of navigation on the Teche, Arnaudville became a port of disembarkation in the early 1800s for settlers who would stay there, move elsewhere into the Attakapas and Opelousas regions, or head across the prairies to Texas. After about 1820, there was regular boat service from New Orleans to Arnaudville for passengers and freight.

Antoine's son, Jacques Arnaud, inherited the grant from him.

Prior to 1853, the French Catholics who made up the greater part of the settlers at La Jonction worshiped at St. Charles Church in Grand Coteau or at St. Landry Church in Opelousas or the St. Martin Church in St. Martinville. The Jesuits from Grand Coteau established a mission chapel at Arnaudville on land given them by Jacques Arnaud. Later, the Jesuits acquired additional property, all of which they turned over to St. Francis Regis parish when it was formed. For a number of years, the settlement was served by Jesuit missionaries, until 1862, when Father Vialleton became the first resident priest.

In 1871, Father Christophe Cuny became the first diocesan priest to serve in the parish. He made plans to build a church, which was completed in 1872, when the church of St. John Francis Regis was dedicated.

In 1891, Father Denoyel was able to gain the help of the Marianite Sisters of the Holy Cross, and construction of a convent was begun. The school opened Jan. 4, 1891. Then, with the aid of Mother Katherine Drexel, he established St. Joseph's School for black children in September 1893.

The convent was closed in 1919, but was reopened in 1947 as the Little Flower Convent under the Marianite sisters. A new St. Regis Church was dedicated in 1949, the year after the Josephite Fathers established a church for black people in Arnaudville. When the railroads moved through the area in the 1880s, bypassing Arnaudville, the town lost its importance as a stepping-off point onto the prairies, but continued to prosper as a farming community. Farmers thereabouts grew sugar cane, sweet potatoes, cabbage, cotton, and corn, in addition to raising cattle.