Photograph: Front page of the Daily World newspaper in Opelousas on Thursday, January 1, 1942.
Carola Lillie Hartley
Publisher and Contributing Writer
1942 began as a year of uncertainty in the United States, and Opelousas as well. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, and the US was forced to get involved in a war. As one of the headlines on the front page of the Opelousas Daily World newspaper of January 1, 1942 read: “First Wartime New Year’s Day in 24 Long Years.”
Many of the towns young men were called upon to serve their country and join the fight that would be World War II. Even with all that was going on in the world, Opelousas citizens, although concerned about the future and about their soldiers, went on with their lives.
There was a new St. Landry Parish Courthouse in downtown Opelousas, completed in 1940. Elections were held that year to select some local, state and federal officials. A new Catholic Church was completed and dedicated on the west end of town. Opelousas citizens went to work every day. Public and private schools were operating with daily classes, sporting events, graduation activities and more.
For anyone living in Opelousas during that 1942 year, here are some of the sites seen as they traveled through town.
