St. Mary's Cathedral

Construction of St. Mary's began in 1861 and was completed in the Gothic Style in 1866 after a delay from the Civil War. A fascade and stained glass windows were added during the 1880s. A belfry and steeple were added on top of the previous flat topped tower in 1898. New entrance steps were added in 1904 and during the 1920s a brick veneer was added. A fellowship area was added since 2000. The cathedral's steeple is 180 feet high.

The cathedral was built on the location of an old seminary. St. Ignatius Academy, a private boarding school, used to be on the west side of the lot.

Links

• Gothic style architecture
  
• St. Mary's Cathedral
  

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Bethel African Methodist Epsicopal Church

This church was constructed by a Lutheran church in 1850 and sold to Bethel AME in 1866. The building was covered in stucco some time during the 1920s. Church offices were added in 1922 along with stained glass windows.

Bethel AME founded one of the first schools in the area and donated it to the government in 1969 for use as a public school for blacks. Bethel AMEs school remained in use until the 1880s.

Links

• African Methodist Episcopal Church
• Stucco
  

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St. Boniface Catholic Church

The St. Boniface congregation was formed in 1853 when there were enough German Catholics to warrant splitting off from the main Lafayette parish. In 1863 the new church bought land for a new building which was completed in 1865. The church tower originally had a flat roof and the spire was added in 1887.

The building is in the Gothic Revival style. The original tower had a large stained glass rose window on the top level which was removed when the spire was added. The front facade has three parts which the tower in front of the two wings.

Links

• Gothic Revival architecture
  
• St. Boniface Catholic Church
  

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Brown Street United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church was one of the first denominations to send circuit riders to Lafayette and opened five of the first six schools in the area. This congregation was formed in 1851 and the church building was constructed during the summer of 1885 for $15,000. The church, located in the German part of town, was predominantly German and held its services in German until 1919. Concurrent with the language change, the church's name changed from Deutsche Methodist Kirche to Brown Street Episcopal Methodist Church. This was later changed to its current name because of denomination restructuring.

The church has a gabled front on 9th street and has Gothic style arches. The steeple was destroyed by lightning in 1933 and later rebuilt although not as high as the original steeple. The church's exterior was restored in 1974.

Links

• Brown Street United Methodist Church
• Gothic Architecture
  

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