Opelousas Police responded to an incident that occurred on Wednesday, April 12 around 9:40 A.M. at St. Landry Bank located in the 100 block of E. Landry Street.
It took 100 years, but St. Landry Homestead Federal Savings Bank decided on a drastic name change to Catalyst Bank to end confusion with a local rival and signal its loftier aspirations.
Since I was a child I’ve been interested in the history of Opelousas. My curiosity about the stories I heard from my mom, my aunts and my grandmother led me to the St. Landry Parish courthouse when I got older, and eventually to other areas to do research on our town using anything available for more information.
I especially like to learn how businesses got started, what were the first businesses in town and who were the first professionals. I even wrote a book called Opelousas Firsts.
Since that time I’ve learned so much more about some of the first known businesses as well as those that followed. Today, I want to share what I learned about the early jewelers in Opelousas with a focus on Dietlein Jewelry Store that operated over a century ago.