Church Point

Church Point is a Cajun Country town with a colorful history. Its first post office, effectively establishing the city, was built in 1873, though it was home to both American Indians and Cajun settlers long before that.

Church Point was once known as Plaquemine Brulée. Plaquemine is an American Indian word for persimmon, which grew in abundance at the edge of Bayou Plaquemine where the settlement was founded. Men cleared the waterfront area, setting fires to the underbrush — the resulting clearing was called a brulée — and with settlers moving in, Plaquemine Brulée was born.

The name Church Point derives from the "point" of land near Bayou Plaquemine where the settlement was founded, and to honor the first chapel that was built in the area in 1846.

Church Point is known as the Buggy Capital of the World. Buggy, as in horse-drawn carriages that traveled the roads of south Louisiana decades ago. The Church Point Buggy Festival celebrates old times and was founded in 1983, as a fundraiser for Acadia St. Landry Hospital. Its main event is the Grand Buggy Festival Parade, in which the festival queen and her court wave to admiring fans.

Church Point retains its small-town charm, and is a short 20-minute drive from the more populous cities of Lafayette and Opelousas.