FIRST -- Catholic Church in Arkansas, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Plum Bayou AR
N 34° 19.472 W 091° 56.558
15S E 597275 N 3798647
St. Mary's Catholic Church, off of AR SH 31 and a mile or more down St. Mary's Catholic Church Road northeast of Pine Bluff AR, started on a barge at Arkansas Post in 1782 and still serves the faithful today.
Waymark Code: WMMMGC
Location: Arkansas, United States
Date Posted: 10/09/2014
Views: 1
Blasterz' good friend (and adoptive grandfather) Lynn Gaines brought us here. Really if you did not know this was here you would never find it. It is way off the beaten path, but is deeply historic and worth the visit. ---> Bring mosquito repellent. <-- the buggers chased us off after only a few moments.
Be sure to check out the grave of Revolutionary war Veteran and Jefferson County pioneer Francis Vaugine, in the St. Mary's Cemetery a few dozen feet away.
The hard to read plaque reads as follows:
"ST MARY'S CHURCH
1782 -- Built on a barge at Arkansas Post
1832 -- Moved from barge to land in Jefferson County
1869 -- Moved to Plum Bayou
1927 -- Installed Brick Exterior"
Our friend Lynn was active in several genealogical societies and had done the research on Francis Vaugine, an early Jefferson Co. AR pioneer, in order for him to get a Veterans Administration-issued tombstone for service during the Revolutionary War. He also helped the DAR chapter get a new tombstone for Vaugine's wife Mary.
From the St. Joseph Catholic Church website, some interesting parish history of St. Mary's: (
visit link)
"St. Mary's Plum Bayou, The First Catholic Church In Arkansas
In 1838, Sr. Agnes Hart and several Sisters of Loretto came to Arkansas to start a school at what was the first St. Mary’s on the Arkansas River. Since the area was prone to flooding, the school and church was moved to Plumb Bayou in 1869, several miles inland on the eastern part of the Arkansas flood plane. Sister Agnes didn’t survive but one more year and was buried in 1839 at the original St. Mary’s church site. When the church was moved, Sr. Agnes’s body was exhumed and was found incorrupt even though she was buried without a casket (she was buried on a bed of roses).
St. Mary’s church has been at the current site since 1869. The exterior facade was bricked in 1927 and the interior ceiling was dropped and covered. During some point, the statues were removed and apparently given away or lost. Recently, some Eucharistic vessels were found as well as a crucifix that was carved by Chief Saracen, a local indian chief who converted to Catholicism in the early 1800’s and apparently known by the St. Mary’s sisters and priests. Chief Saracen is buried in St. Joseph Cemetery. The cross located above the entrance is thought to be original to the church and was covered in copper to protect it from woodpeckers."
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