Point Coupee, Louisiana
Point Coupee is the name of an unincorporated community located in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the home of St. Francis Chapel. It is located along Louisiana Highway 420, north of New Roads.
History
The community was founded in the 1720s by French colonists. It is one of the oldest communities in the Mississippi River Valley. Originally, it was called "Le Post de Pointe Coupee" (The Pointe Coupee Post). About 1776, a "chemin neuf" (new road) was built to connect the Mississippi River with False River. The area has since been known as New Roads and is the basis for naming the town of New Roads.[1]
The Saint Francis Chapel at the Point Coupée settlement was originally completed in 1728. A new church building was constructed in 1760, but it was built too close to the Mississippi River. Graves in the church's graveyard were consumed by the waters of the Mississippi. The church was taken down, and a smaller version was erected using materials from the previous church. This newer structure was dedicated in 1895. The church is known as the fourth-oldest continuously operating Catholic church in Louisiana. St. Francis Chapel is now a mission church of St. Mary's of False River.
The town of St. Francisville, on the opposite (east) side of the Mississippi, is named for the St. Francis Chapel.[2]
In 1794, when this area was part of New Spain, Point Coupée was the scene of a slave insurrection during which planters' homes were burned down. It was called the Pointe Coupée Conspiracy. This followed just three years after another uprising in the area, the 1791 Mina Conspiracy, in the vicinity of New Roads.
References
- ↑ Lockhart, John M. "Facts of the Matter", The Riverside Reader, May 26, 2008, p. 1 <--dead link 23 Apr 2015.
- ↑ Pointe Coupee Parish Churches
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New Roads, is the parish seat.