St. Michael's Church Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

Convent, Louisiana Convent () is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States. It has been the parish seat since 1869. It is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area . As of the 2010 census, its population was ...

, in St. James Parish, Louisiana. The area was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1979. It is located on River Road (

Louisiana Highway 44 Louisiana Highway 44 (LA 44) is a state highway in Louisiana that serves Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Ascension, St. James Parish, Louisiana, St. James, and St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, St. John the Baptist Parishes. It runs from west ...

), about downriver from

Sunshine Bridge The Sunshine Bridge is a cantilever bridge over the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Completed in 1963, it carries Louisiana Highway 70 (LA70), which connects Donaldsonville on the west bank of Ascension Parish with Sorrento ...

. It included six

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

and a

contributing site In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

on . It includes: StMikeChurchWM

*St. Michael's Church (c. 1875), a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

with a tower in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and Romanesque styles. It has a "five bay, aisled nave, and a massive altar set in a great niche whose back wall is cut through with a colonnade screen. The church is entered through a vestibule set in the base in a single central tower. In the ornate nave, multishaft columns rise to foliated capitals which support sets of Romanesque double arches. The exposed truss roof features King posts and foliated hanging pendants. The building is constructed of brick laid up in common bond. The exterior features the verticality, pinnacles, buttresses, and multiple arches of the Gothic style. Yet the numerous semicircular arches and blind arcading are Romanesque. Despite the mixture of styles, the blend is entirely harmonious and elegant. At one time there was an octagonal spire; however, it was blown down in the 1975 hurricane." *a rectory *a large school building, "the old St. Michael's School for white children, which operated from 1940 to about 1966. From 1966 to 1971 it was an integrated Catholic school." *a small school building, "the old St. Joseph's School for Negroes, which originally occupied a different site. The school began in 1867 and operated until the coming of integration to the parish in the late 1960s. The building, which dates from the middle to late nineteenth century, was moved to the church grounds in 1932 and continued to function as a Negro Catholic school. It may be the same building in which the school was inaugurated in 1867." *two cottages *"the Shed" *a cemetery "consisting mainly of fairly ordinary above-ground tombs ... noteworthy for three high style Renaissance Revival tombs near the entrance. The Welham tomb is particularly significant with its castiron vermiculated quoins and arches." With

References

Roman Catholic churches in Louisiana Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Greek Revival church buildings in Louisiana Victorian architecture in Louisiana Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in St. James Parish, Louisiana Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Clergy houses in the United States Houses in St. James Parish, Louisiana Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Schools in St. James Parish, Louisiana School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana {{Louisiana-RC-church-stub