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The Lafayette Science Museum is dedicated towards providing fun and educational science programming for people of all ages. Its origins go back to 1969 when a women's group called the Les Deux Douzaines started a community volunteer project that provided science education to schools in the area. The popularity of what the group was doing resulted in the museum moving into a temporary site in Gerard Park. In 1992, some operations moved into a former department store and the rest followed suit in 2002. The museum contains permanent exhibits that explore space travel, geology, meteorites and aquatic life. The museum also houses a library and archives. 

Lafayette Science Museum

This tour features prominent historic locations in Lafayette, Louisiana including the Old City Hall, a cathedral, monuments dedicated to two of Lafayette's most noteworthy residents, and a historic home.

The building
that served as Lafayette’s first city hall has existed in its current location
since 1898 and has undergone several renovations and has housed various
organizations over the years.&nbsp; The city
used the building until a new city hall was built at the corner of Jefferson
and Lee streets in 1939 utilizing Depression era Works Progress Administration funds.&nbsp; The city offices were moved once again in
1980 to the former Sears Department Store.

The building’s
architect, George Knapp, also designed the city’s Masonic Temple and Old Post
Office.&nbsp; He also designed numerous homes
in Lafayette and New Iberia and served as the city’s building inspector.&nbsp; The building features a unique semi-circular
balcony on the second floor as well as large windows, a recessed entrance and the impression from an 1889 coin on its exterior...see if you can locate it.&nbsp; It underwent renovations in both 1981 and
1989. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The Old City
Hall building, after it was no longer the city hall, then housed a local women’s
organization, the Lafayette Municipal Library, the city’s planning commission,
the Municipal Government Employee’s Civil Service Board, a civil defense radio
station and offices for the Boy Scouts of America.&nbsp; Most recently it served as the home to the
Council for the Development of French in Louisiana and the Alliance Francaise
de Lafayette.&nbsp; It is not known who
currently occupies the building, if anyone.&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Built in 1898, Lafayette’s first city hall originally served as the Bank of Lafayette until 1906 when the city purchased the building for $4,500.  The 2.5 story building was designed by local architect, George Knapp, and is a wonderful example of the Rococo style.  The building served as the seat for the city’s government and city council for 33 years until a new city hall was built in 1939.  The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the first building in Lafayette to earn that honor.

Lafayette's Old City Hall

The Cathedral Museum, located inside the Cathedral Center, features memorabilia of the early bishops of the diocese and pastors of the Cathedral, historical documents, liturgical vestments, and vessels of the pre-Vatican II era.&nbsp; The museum also commemorates the persons and events that contributed to the history of St. John Cathedral Parish which spans 185 years.&nbsp; Included in the exhibit are the official diocesan and papal documents which established both the parish in 1821 and the diocese in 1918.&nbsp; In addition to photographs and books of priests who have served in the parish are memorabilia of notable persons who are buried in the church or its cemetery.

This historic cathedral, completed in 1916, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the third church built on the site donated by Jean Mouton in 1821, when Lafayette was the town of Vermilionville. Nearby St. John Cemetery is the oldest in the city of Lafayette. The high water table in South Louisiana makes aboveground burial a necessity in most places in the region. 

Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist

Born in 1757 to a noble family with deep roots in the French military, the aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette is best known for his role in the American Revolution and the French Revolution.&nbsp;After his father was killed in America fighting the British in the Seven Years War, Lafayette joined the French army and soon expanded his family's fortune through marriage. He first saw action in the American Revolution during the Battle of Brandywine where he distinguished himself by managing&nbsp;an orderly&nbsp;retreat despite sustaining a serious wound and being outnumbered by the British.&nbsp; Lafayette's greatest contribution to the rebel cause came in 1780 when he convinced King Louis XVI to dedicate more resources to supporting the American rebels. The following year, Lafayette's expanded force coordinated their movements with George Washington's army and surrounded &nbsp;Lord Cornwallis and his men at Yorktown.&nbsp;

This statue honors the French aristocrat who became a hero for the rebels fighting Great Britain in the American Revolution. The statue was dedicated in 1987 and celebrates the French military leader who is best known for blocking British forces under Lord Cornwallis from being able to retreat during the Siege of Yorktown. Lafayette later became an influential leader of the French Revolution and was one of the architects of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The city was named Vermilionville in 1821 and changed its name to Lafayette in 1884. 

Marquis de La Fayette Sculpture

Originally built around 1800, the Alexandre Mouton House is an historic home in Lafayette, Louisiana. It is now a museum dedicated towards preserving the history of southern Louisiana. It was built by Alexandre's father, Jean Mouton, who was one of the first settlers in the area. Alexandre began living there around 1825 and remained there until 1836. Alexandre served as the governor of Louisiana from 1843-1846. Successive owners lived in the house until 1954, when a women's group called the Les Vint-Quatre purchased the house for the purpose of opening it up as a museum. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Alexandre Mouton House

General Alfred Mouton was a general in the confederate army and the grandson of the founder of Lafayette, Louisiana. His family was very wealthy and owned many slaves during that time and were supporters of the Confederate side of the civil war. There is a statue of him in the middle of Lafayette, LA open for the public to see which stands as a remembrance of the lost causes history, or a white way of remembering the Civil War. The statue was put up in 1922 and there have been several attempts to remove the statue in 1980 and in more recent times in 2016. There are several activist groups that do not want this part of history still standing within their town representing what Lafayette shows themselves as. These groups include: Move the Mindset, Blue Acadiana Democratic Women of Acadiana, Indivisible Acadiana and the NAACP of Lafayette Chapter No. 6060. They find that the statue brings back too many memories of what the civil war was truly about. There are people within the town that strive to keep the integrity of the statue alive and that think it should still be standing tall. The statue was put up by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1922 who also won a court case over the statue in 1980. The UDC is a hereditary association of Southern women established in 1894 in Nashville, Tennessee. The stated purposes of the organization includes the commemoration of Confederate soldiers and the funding of the erection of memorials to these men. In recent years, there has been a great effort to remove the statue. Many people would like it moved in front of the Mouton residence, which is a historic landmark in Lafayette, others want it destroyed completely to try to rid of the lost cause memory. These statues that still stand have been a point of controversies all over the United States. In recent years a New Orleans mayor was able to pull all of the "generic" confederate statues down in the dead of night with no disturbances. He accounts these things in his book and talks about the problems he is facing, how he faced them, and what to be done with the lost cause memory that is so heavy within the south. In 2016 there was a protest that brought hundreds of supporters in the movement to take it down and hundreds of supporters to keep it up. There was a court appeal to attempt the removal, but the Daughters of Confederacy had a court case won in 1980 that allowed the statue to still stand in the middle of Lafayette. This act had shown how strong the ties to the lost cause are in the south and they had made their case to keep it up. The 1980 court case was ordered a permanent injection that prohibits moving the statue unless the city needs to do road work or sells the property. It is unclear why the city agreed to the permanent injunction and the court record provides no answer. The lost cause memory, is trying to forget what the Civil War was about, is still very strong in the south and it can be difficult to combat. Lafayette can benefit by removing the statue or they could be hurt by not being a very progressive city as it might want to seem. Lafayette could be a flag city of removal and lead the way on stopping lost cause history. This cite has been attempted to be removed and nothing was able to be done, but this statue still stands very tall within the center of Lafayette, LA and should be handled soon. It is a center of controversy should be dealt with in some fashion. The statue is a sign to many different people within the city and there are still people trying to protect it and there are people actively trying to take it down.

Dedicated in 1922 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, this statue commemorates Confederate General Alfred Mouton who perished during the Civil war. There have been several major protest to have the statue removed, one in 1980 and the other recently in 2016. Mouton was a influential member in the community, but he was known for owning slaves and contributing to several acts of violence against African Americans. People within the city and surrounding area still see it has history and tradition, but this is a false hope leaning on the Lost Cause. There have been several attempts to have it removed and various prestigious people in Lafayette coming out about it being moved or taken down. 

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Highlights of Downtown Lafayette, Louisiana Walking Tour

Lafayette Science Museum

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