Historical Marker
Louisiana Baptist Orphanage
Lake Charles, Calcasieu County · Louisiana
The name on the later school is the part worth knowing. Mrs. J. A. Landry, who bought the orphanage property and gave it to the Christian Brothers, is honored as founder of Landry Memorial High School. In 2020 a Medium article reported, and Wikipedia summarizes, that she held leadership roles in the United Daughters of the Confederacy from 1910 to 1925, and alumni that June petitioned St. Louis Catholic High School, the 1970 merger's heir, to address racial history and bias in its curriculum. Baptist congregations had built the orphanage in 1899 on ground then called Baptist Meadows.
Where it stands
30.21887, -93.20743 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu — 0.7 miA 6,000-square-foot museum of southwest Louisiana Carnival with about 275 costume mannequins and 14 animated figures, opened in April 2026.
- Imperial Calcasieu Museum — 1.0 miLake Charles's history museum, founded by the Junior League in 1963, with parish artifacts, Claire Chennault's uniform and the Sallier Oak.
- Sam Houston Jones State Park — 6.3 miA 1,087-acre park on the West Fork of the Calcasieu with longleaf pine, cypress-tupelo swamp, five trails, cabins and kayak rentals.
- Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point — 10 miA free visitor center at the western gateway of Louisiana's only All-American Road, with exhibits on alligators, migrating songbirds and the estuary.