Perry's Bridge sprang up sometime after 1817, when Robert Perry was given a contract by the St. Martin Parish Police Jury to build a bridge across the river. (At that time Lafayette and Vermilion parishes were still part of St. Martin.) Perry moved from Kentucky to Louisiana in 1806, when he was 19 years old. By 1827, he owned stores on each side of the river at Perry's Bridge, maintained a tannery there, and had other landholdings.
About the time Vermilion Parish was formed, Father Antoine Megret bought land at what would become Abbeville, and asked the legislature to establish the parish seat at the site of his little church there. He lost that round, but continued to battle for the courthouse, and ultimately won it away from Perry. In fact, a courthouse was never built at Perry even though the seat of justice changed first to Perry, then to Abbeville, then back again. Finally, in 1852, the legislature passed an act making Abbeville the parish seat once and for all.
Ambrose Toups was one of the first residents of Perry and the first court session ever held in Vermilion Parish was held in his house. After that, court was held in the Perry Store.
In 1844, Perry laid out a little town and gave a lot on Main Street for a Protestant Church. Father Megret talked to Perry about moving his Catholic chapel there, too, but Perry was still miffed over Megret's attempts to get the parish seat. He offered the priest a piece of swampland, which Father Megret turned down. One result of that little tussle has been that there has never been a Catholic Church built at Perry. Perry's Bridge was then part of a circuit served by the Methodist minister Phillip H. Diffenwierth who built the first church at the place.
Some local historians think that it was the bridge at Perry's Bridge, more particularly its maintenance, was responsible for the creation of Vermilion Parish in the first place.
The first bridge was a crude affair and regular cattle drives across its rickety span did little to improve it. With the beginning of the steamboat era in the middle 1820's the bridge had to be changed to allow steamboat traffic up and down the river. The repairs and renovations cost money and Perry regularly appeared before the Lafayette Police Jury asking for more and more to fix his bridge.
By 1902, the Abbeville Meridional reported a steel bridge under construction at Perry’s Bridge, which by then had four stores, a barber shop, the Methodist church, two blacksmith shops, a post office, dance hall, two meat markets, and a population of more than 200 people.
Rice and corn mills, syrup mills, and cotton gins were all located in Perry at the turn of the century. There was also a lumber yard alongside the river at one time, with lumber coming up the river by paddle boats that also brought a variety of other merchandise to be unloaded and warehoused at Perry.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jhbradshaw@bellsouth.net or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.
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