Washington’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Washington. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Washington was founded as the Post of Opelousas in 1764 as a French trading post. In 1766, the first church, La Iglesia paroquial de la Immaculada Conception del Puesto de Opelousas, was established and the post later became known as Church Landing in 1822. In 1835, the town was incorporated under the current name.
In the early 1800s smaller steamboats started traveling up Bayou Teche to the Opelousas River, renamed Bayou Courtableau, at Barre’s Landing (named after Alexander Charles Barré) that became Port Barre, then to Washington where there was a bottleneck as the steamboats could not turn around. In 1848 Captain George W. Haygood completed a steamboat turnaround and Washington became an inland port.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Washington’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Washington’s history is told.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewSplane, Washington, St. Landry Pa…, 1938: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Washington, decade by decade
1990s
2 historic places in Washington
Washington has 2 listings on the National Register, and they protect 201 historic buildings, because Washington Historic District alone counts 200.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Splane, Washington, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana - corner view 1938 crop (1938) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.