Virgin Island

The statue story starts small. After a flood in the late 1800s, parishioners found an unharmed figure of Mary in the ruined church. Father Pillian set a small statue on the island in 1902 with a wooden cross pleading, in French, for Mary's protection. A few years later it was buried and replaced by a much larger one. The saying grew up that as long as the water never touched the Virgin's feet, the town would be spared. Families here have turned to it through the great floods, a deadly 1940 tornado and hurricane threats.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Chitimacha Museum — 20 mi
  The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana's own museum at Charenton: the tribe's account of its territory, the French wars and enslavement, the land held in trust, and river cane baskets.
• Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum — 20 mi
  A Louisiana State Museum in Patterson on the world's largest cypress sawmill town and the Wedell-Williams racing planes, with a theater and changing exhibits.
• Grevemberg House Museum — 20 mi
  Franklin's 1851 Greek Revival townhouse, the official St. Mary Parish museum, saved from demolition by one vote and set in the Franklin Historic District on Bayou Teche.
• E. D. White Historic Site — 20 mi
  A National Historic Landmark house of about 1790 on Bayou Lafourche, built by enslaved people and home to two Whites, a governor and a Chief Justice, with an exhibit on the bayou's history.

More markers nearby

• Pierre Part Bay — steps away
• Virgin Island — steps away
• Grand Bayou — 6.0 mi
• Christ Episcopal Church — 11 mi