History

History of St. Gabriel

St. Gabriel Parish has had a rich and varied history. The community of St. Gabriel began in the later half of the eighteenth century by Acadian exiles sent by the Spanish Governor Dan Ontonio DeUlloa to settle in the coast of Iberville, known as Manchac. Fired with that spirit of patient perseverance and neighborly cooperation that had characterized the Acadians in their home land in Canada, residents of the east bank of the Coast of Iberville developed the land, and began an active community life. Since they were traditionally a religious people, they dreamed of a church to express their faith. Read more…

History of the Sacred Heart Chapel

The leprosarium at Carville, located in an isolated bend in the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, was founded in 1894 in a bold move by the State of Louisiana on the site of an old sugar plantation. The hospital was first known as the Louisiana Leper Home, and its first resident staff consisted of a band of intrepid Daughters of Charity recruited from Emmitsburg, Maryland, who functioned as doctors, administrators, nurses, technicians, therapists, pharmacists, researchers, dieticians, mechanics, maintenance workers and political advocates for the hospital and its patients. Read more…