Washington

The town of Washington on Bayou Courtableau is the jewel in the crown of St. Landry Parish. It was originally called Church's Landing because it was the site of the first Catholic Church in the parish, built in 1770.

Once the second largest port in Louisiana and a major inland commercial route for the area, Washington was a thriving steamboat town in its heyday. Steamboat service began in the 1820s after Bayou Courtableau and the Atchafalaya River were cleared of obstruction. Horse carts and boats from area plantations brought in agricultural products including sugar, cotton, and livestock. At Washington, everything was loaded onto steamers to be shipped to New Orleans through a myriad of bayous, rivers, and inlets leading to the Atchafalaya River.

With the heavy commercial activity during the steamboat days came the necessary structures: warehouses, shops, and homes for the planters and steamboat captains. Much of the original town is included in the Washington Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

According to National Register documents, the town contains a large number of fine examples of Louisiana house types, as well as a number of late 19th-century commercial buildings including a steamboat warehouse, a brick warehouse, and several shops that retain their original ornamental shop fronts.

Take a minute to visit the Washington Museum and Tourist Information Center to find out about everything Washington has to offer. Then stroll down the narrow, tree-lines streets of this beautiful town for a sublime slip into the past. The lovely homes, many of them carefully restored, add to the 19th-century feel. Antiques reign supreme here, so plan to spend some time in the shops on Main Street and in the antique mall in the old Washington High School.

Virginia may have its Williamsburg, but Louisiana can proudly claim Washington as her own piece of early America.

WASHINGTON MUSEUM & TOURIST INFORMATION
404 North Main St.; (337) 826-3627; www.townofwashingtonla.org; Mon-Fri 8 am-4 pm, Sat-Sun 9 am-4pm. Make this your first stop in Washington for information on historic sites, maps of the area, house tours, walking tours, antique shops, and bed-and-breakfast listings. More than 80 percent of this once thriving steamboat town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many interesting artifacts of the steamboat era are housed in the museum.

TOWN TOURS
Raynold Soileau offers tours of Washington for groups.  Group rates available.  Please call (337) 826-3907.