Washington, Louisiana

     Picturesque" is the word for Washington. The story of Washington in essence is the story of Courtableau Bayou and navigation to and from the settlement that grew up there around the first church. The church location and the nearby landing place for boats naturally became identified as "Church Landing" until it became a bustling port on the frontier, and the name was changed to honor the first President of the United States.

     Eons before, Nature decreed that this site would be special. Indians who lived here before the coming of the white man knew well the mysteries of the bayous and frequented the place where two streams came together to form a third, Courtableau Bayou. Not far from the juncture of the bayous where the deep waters of the Courtableau flowed past a natural bluff, a crossroads place was recognized as a point for launching boats or mooring them. From this place dugouts could glide through swamps and fertile lowlands and into the bayous that fringed the prairies.
The story of Washington in essence is the story of Courtableau Bayou and navigation to and from the settlement that grew up there around the first church. The church location and the nearby landing place for boats naturally became identified as "Church Landing" until it became a bustling port on the frontier, and the name was changed to honor the first President of the United States.