In 1767, French Capuchin Father Barnabe traveled upstream from Destrehan to the west bank of the Mississippi to serve the settlers at the Cabahannocer military post. Cabahannocer is an Indian word which roughly translates to “sleeping place of the ducks.”
French native Jacques Cantrelle had settled a Cabahannocer land grant around 1764 and donated two arpents of his land for the construction of a church named after his patron, St. James. Another French Capuchin, Father Valentin, arrived in 1770 to be the first resident pastor in the first 40 x 20 shed church. In 1771, Commandant Nicholas Verret, Sr. had a more suitable frame structure built. A board of lay wardens guided the early church which, in 1804, became known as St. James. In 1840, a third church was begun, an imposing Romanesque structure with three steeples. Built through the generosity of Valcour Aime, the church contained a magnificent mural of the Assumption over the altar and other pieces of artwork, all commissioned in Rome. The church, known for its unobstructed interior expanse supported by cypress beams, was consecrated in 1841.
The Civil War brought difficult financial times for the St. James Church. Twice seized by the civil court and offered for sale at public auction, it returned to church ownership when purchased by Archbishop Perche of New Orleans in the early 1870s. A school was established in St. James Parish in 1895, but it closed in 1909. Unfortunately, encroachment of the Mississippi river in the 1840s undermined the foundation of the church and, in 1929, it was demolished. Thanks to the generosity of parishioner Miss Emilie Poche of Hymel, additional land was donated for the construction of the present fourth church, which was constructed with clean country lines far away from the river bank. It was dedicated in 1930. In 1976, the church was severely damaged by a smoldering fire, but careful preservation restored the priceless Valcour Aime artifacts and the church.
The long and glorious history of St. James Church is rooted deep in the sugar cane soil of St. James civil parish. It has harvested a rich faith life for generations. In 2005, St. James Parish was clustered with the parishes of St. Philip and Our Lady of Peace in Vacherie. The devotion of its people remains strong, and they look forward to living Christ’s word in the third millennium.