Our Church History

With Special Thanks to Mrs. Janet Cavin, who compiled our history for decades.

Our ancestors from Nova Scotia came to Louisiana in 1785 and settled in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas, including Port Hudson on Rio Feliciana (now Thompson's Creek). Early church records show that baptisms, confirmations, and marriages took place in the Town of Port Hudson in the Plains area in a chapel named St. John's.

In 1870 the chapel site was moved to a property between Shaffett Lane and Pope Road. With the advent of the railroad, Zachary was incorporated as a town in 1889. River traffic lessened as the current of the Mississippi River gradually ate away at the river landings and covered over the once-flourishing Town of Port Hudson with silt.

To move the church closer to town, Mrs. John McHugh donated a piece of property on east Main Street and Old Weis Road, which became the third site of St. John's Church. Catholics worshipped there until 1924 when the present site was purchased. The old chapel had been used as a residence until recently, when it was sold to St. Patrick's Episcopal Church and is still in use today.

In 1964, with the Baton Rouge population increasing, Bishop Tracy established St. John the Baptist as a parish, with Our Lady of the Assumption in Clinton as a Mission. The late Monsignor, Father Thomas Cage Gordon, was the first pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish.

In 1967 he built a new church in Clinton and a rectory in Zachary. He served until 1970 and was succeeded by the late Father Matthew Faschan. Under his tenure, the new St. John the Baptist Church, Parish Hall, and classrooms were built in 1974, as well as the Assumption Hall in Clinton. In 1977 an addition was built to the Rectory to serve as a parish office.

We have since been blessed by the guidance of several memorable pastors including Father Robert Stine, Father Henry Vavasseur, Father Tom Duhé, Father Louis Oubre, Father Kenneth Laird, Father Victor Messina, Father Christopher Roussell, Monsignor Gerald LeFebvre, Father M. Jeffery Bayhi and our present pastor, Father Lamar Partin.