"A shiny new historical marker for the St. Antoine’s site off N. Custer Rd. in the City of Monroe was unveiled Tuesday afternoon and watched by Monroe County commissioners during their Zoom regular meeting.
Andrew Clark, director of the Monroe County Historical Museum, uncovered the monument that was placed in the ground near the historic s site that once held St. Antoine’s Catholic Church. That church, founded in 1788, preceded St. Mary Catholic Church.
It replaces an existing marker that was installed there in 1957 and had developed an irreparable fissure – possibly from being buffeted by the wind for decades, Clark said.
“It qualified for replacement,” the director said.
Helping him unveil the marker were Rev. David Burgard, pastor of St Mary Catholic Church; Lynn Reaume, county historian at the museum; Brian James Egen, chairman of the Monroe County Museum System Board of Trustees; Jeremy Potter, vice chairman of the board, and Nick Guthrie, a trustee on the board.
The 11-member board is the new name of the governing body for the museum and replaces the historical commission, Clark said.
The one-acre site, which sits at the entrance to the Frenchman’s Bend subdivision, is known for the church and burial ground for many of the early French people who settled along the River Raisin, said Reaume, who researched and wrote the text for the new marker.
The priests who ministered at St. Antoine’s lived in the church, and the name of the parish was changed to St. Mary’s around 1845, she said.
“This meant a lot to me since this is my parish and I have done work on the history of St. Antoine's and St. Mary's for a long time,” she said. “I was able to be in on the exploration of the site when bones were discovered, and have done genealogy on the church records for many many people, including my own husband's Reaume line.
“Our ancestors in faith are still here in the cemetery, much to the surprise of many. Monroe County is loaded with history, both seen and unseen, ready to be explored and connected with.”
The old marker will be added to the museum’s collection.
J. Henry Lievens, chairman of the board of commissioners, commended the marker committee for its work to upgrade recognition of the site.
“This adds to our quality of life here,” Lievens told the board.
The marker is the first new replacement of a revived historical marker program that existed in various forms in the city and county since the Civic Improvement Society placed its first plaques in the early years of the 20th Century, Clark said.
During the 1930s, the next series of markers took form as the “carved wooden signs that have since migrated from their original locations and now make a yearly appearance” during the Monroe County Fair week, he said.
In the 1950s, the present style of aluminum marker was adopted.
The Monroe County Museum System formally reactivated the program late in 2018 after observing that the marker program had become dormant and that a large number of markers needed some attention to the surface, posts or both, Clark said.
“Over the course of the next decade, it is our goal to rehabilitate when possible, replace when necessary, and place new markers in underrepresented parts of the county,” he said.
Like the first eight rehabilitated markers from last year, the St. Antoine’s marker features the new blue and silver paint scheme and new aluminum octagonal post."-
Monroe News