Churches in the
Lower Garden District

It stands to reason that the first church we at the Coliseum Square Association should talk about is the beautiful, gothic and visually impressive Episcopal Church located at the corner of Erato and Camp Streets. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, shown at right, was the third of the parish's churches, built in 1893 to replace an earlier church which burned in 1891.
The Episcopal parish of St. Paul's dates to 1836. Its first church, erected in 1839, was the third oldest Episcopal church in Louisiana. A fire in 1891 destroyed the church and St. Paul's built the church shown at right in 1893. It stood proudly, just next to the statue of philanthropist Margaret Haughery. You can see Margaret's Statue in the shade of this visually stunning masterpiece.

It humbly shaded Margaret until the late 1950s, when it was demolished to make way for the new approaches to the Mississippi River Bridge.

St. Paul's built it's fourth church on Canal Blvd., incorporating the stained glass windows from the Camp St. church. In 1994, the Camp St. upramp to the bridge was itself demolished, and the area around this site was restored. The Coliseum Square Association was formed in 1971 to protect the historic area known as the Lower Garden District from still further encroachment of the highway and to preserve its heritage.

Information, though modified from several sources, was taken from NOLA Churches

Coliseum Place Baptist Church

1376 Camp St.

This red brick Gothic Revival church was designed in 1854 by architect John Barnett. As the church was in construction the tower failed, and as a result another architect was assigned to redesign it. More bad luck followed when the steeple erected on the top was knocked over by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Still further damage has occured when the back to back hurricanes of 2002 erroded the soil, causing the church's uptown side to sink, resulting in a large crack running from ground to roof. Unfortunately this church suffered more damage during hurricane Katrina and burned down in 2007.

Felicity United Methodist Church

1218 Felicity St.

This Gothic revival masonry church was built in 1888 after an earlier church, the Steele Chapel, was destroyed by fire in 1887. The twin towers once had steeples, but a hurricane destroyed them in 1915. Felicity Methodist may have been the first church in New Orleans to have electric lighting installed with the new church in 1888. There is a massive Holy Bible, believed to be the original pulpit Bible from the earlier church. The original church, known as Steel Chapel was designed by noted architect, Thomas K. Wharton. The congregation is one of the oldest in the city.

Our own resident and Board Member, Cheryl Gerber, took a photograph of the door to this church which I feel is a work of art.

Gates of Prayer

709 Jackson Ave.

Formerly the second oldest Jewish synagogue in the city, it was built in 1865 when the congregation, Shaarei Fifilah, moved to this site in 1857. Made up mostly of Orthodox German Jews, the congregation was organized in 1850 on Seventh and Tchoupitoulas Streets and had two locations before they moved here.

St Alphonsus Catholic Church

2045 Constance St.

Actually part of the Lower Garden District, not the Irish Channel (as I originally thought) St Alphonsus (photo at left) was constructed in 1855 by the Redemptorist Fathers who came here in 1840 from Baltimore. After establishing a church for the German Catholics at St Mary's Assumption (photo at right) across the street, they built this church for the Irish (that's why I thought the Irish Channel) and other English-speaking Catholics. The church was constructed with rough building brick in the Italianate style, but the Baroque spires were never completed.

I was told there was another church, Bon Secour, for the French speaking catholics located on Jackson Avenue, just a few blocks from St. Mary and St. Alphonsus.

St. Alphonsus has now become a shining jewel in the Lower Garden District neighborhood, as The St. Alphonsus Art and Cultural Center located at 2045 Constance Street in New Orleans, LA. 

It is open to the public every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm.

On-site parking is available.

The Friends of St. Alphonsus (FOSA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All donations to the Friends are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

To join the Friends of St. Alphonsus, make a donation towards the preservation and restoration of the St. Alphonsus church building, or volunteer your time, call 504-524-8116 or write us at:

St Anna's Asylum

1823 Prytania St.

There are a number of asylums or benevolent homes in New Orleans, all run by either societies or religious orders. One of them, St Anna's, was first organized in 1850 for "the Relief of Destitute Females and Their Helpless Children of All Religious Denominations". In 1853 land was donated at this site and a building erected in 1853. It was named after the land donor's daughter Anna.

St Theresa of Avila Catholic Church

1145 Coliseum St.

This beautiful stuccoed church was designed by the noted architect T.E. Giraud and built in 1848-49 in the Gothic revival style. The land it sits on was once part of the Saulet plantation but was donated for construction of the church in honor of Therese Saulet, hence the designation of Saint Theresa.