St. Mary Magdalen Church, Catholic church in Abbeville, United States

St. Mary Magdalen Church is a red brick cruciform basilica built in 1911 in Abbeville, with buff-colored brick accents and Romanesque Revival details. Projecting buttresses reinforce its outer walls, and the building stands on the site of the parish's earlier church, established in 1842 by Père Antoine Désiré Mégret.

The original church building was constructed in 1844 but burned down in 1907, leading to its replacement with the current structure completed in 1911. This rebuilding marked the community's determination to restore their spiritual center.

The parish takes its name from Saint Mary Magdalen, a favourite saint among the descendants of Acadian exiles throughout south Louisiana. Pere Antoine Desire Megret founded the community in 1842 and dedicated the first church in spring 1844 under her invocation. The cemetery beside the church dates from around 1844.

The church stands at the corner of South Jefferson and East Vermilion streets, facing Magdalen Square, with the 1921 American Foursquare rectory and the cemetery founded around 1844 on the same National Register property. The grounds are those of an active parish, so visits fit around Mass and prayer.

The parish cemetery, founded around 1844, holds graves of Acadian-descended families; the 1921 American Foursquare rectory beside the church was listed with it on the National Register in 1988. Look for the buff-colored brick accents that contrast with the red brick walls.