The St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Cemetery in Destrehan, referred to as the “Little Red Church Cemetery,” holds the distinction of being the oldest cemetery in St. Charles Parish and bills itself as the oldest German cemetery in the South.
Situated prominently along River Road, its origins can be traced back to 1740 when the first church was established at that location. While the nearby church would be burned and rebuilt two more times over the centuries, the cemetery along River Road has endured as a physical link to St. Charles Parish’s past.
Ronald Rodrigue, longtime administrative assistant at St. Charles Borromeo Church, believes the older cemetery plays a vital role in the parish’s stability.
“[The cemetery] kind of stabilizes our parish, at least I see that in my mind, because people come and go,” Rodrigue said, regarding careers and other life events that may lead some residents to leave St. Charles Parish. “But eventually they always come back home, particularly to be buried here with the family of their loved ones that have passed before.”
The old German cemetery was originally associated with a log cabin chapel, constructed in Destrehan in 1740. Later destroyed by fire in 1806, the church was rebuilt the same year and painted red, and became known as the “Little Red Church.” This iconic structure became a well-known landmark along the Mississippi River until it was overcome by fire once again in 1921. The church was rebuilt in 1922 and rededicated as St. Charles Borromeo Church.
According to church documents, much of the early cemetery was originally situated along the Mississippi River and was lost as the river widened, and the levee constructed. The levee would be moved twice, the last time around 1895, affecting the cemetery each time.
“When the area had a yellow fever epidemic, there was probably three or four hundred tombs of people that died in a short period of time,” Rodrigue said of the early cemetery. “So they just built these red brick tombs touching each other, which probably rested on River Road and under the levee, behind the levee.”
A number of notable individuals and families are buried in the old cemetery, including numerous members of the Destrehan family, for whom the town of Destrehan is named for. The cemetery includes the 1848 ornate tomb of Nicholas Noel Destrehan, who served as a corporal in the Battle of New Orleans and was purported to have been both the designer of the Harvey Canal lock system and an original developer of New Marigny (New Orleans) and Gretna.
The oldest intact tomb in the cemetery dates back to 1777. The church continues to maintain several such older tombs, and every few years brings another older tomb under its care, including those made with expensive white Italian marble. Given the cost to rebuild some of the older tombs could reach as high as seven figures apiece, church officials have reasoned it is less costly to maintain some of them rather than let them deteriorate to a point where they have to be rebuilt.
“There’s no way we could rebuild a tomb like that [with white Italian marble] today – they’re close to million dollars with some of those tombs,” Rodrigue explained.
Despite losing ample area to the levee and Mississippi River, along with the space that naturally gets used up as people get buried, Rodrigue said the cemetery – through its use of mausoleums – continues to have ample burial space for the local community, enough to last at least another century.
“We have enough space for about 100 years in the back [of the cemetery], at the rate we’re going right now,” Rodrigue said.
In part due to the financial stability of its donor and grant funds, the oldest German cemetery in the south is still owned and operated by the same church almost 300 years later, an unusual feat given many other older cemeteries have had to be handed over to outside organizations due to financial reasons.
“We are one of the few [Catholic cemeteries] owned by [our church] parish,” Rodrigue said proudly of the local cemetery. “Either the Archdiocese has taken over other ones, or they’re privately owned by some other institution, but we actually own our own cemetery.”
With its rich history and significance to the community, the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Cemetery stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of St. Charles Parish. Self-guided cemetery tour brochures are available from the church’s front office for residents interested in a tour.
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