Parlons Opelousas: Dr. Buster's office a lost piece of history
As I was going through old photos I’ve collected over the years, I came across one of an old building on North Union Street in Opelousas. It was a picture of the office of Dr. Buster Littell.
Although it was demolished many years before most of us were born, it was an important part of our community for more than 150 years. In fact, it is said that small structure had been on that property since before Louisiana became part of the United States.
Let’s talk about that.
The small building that’s the subject of this article is connected to the arrival of the Littell brothers to the Opelousas area. Dr. Moses Littell and Capt. Eliakim Littell, the sons of Isaac Littell (1764-1825) and Hannah Frazee Littell (1766-1834), were part of a group that migrated from the northeast U.S. following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
The Littell brothers arrived in Louisiana, settling on property just outside of Opelousas, along the Bayou Teche. They also owned property within Opelousas. Members of that family played a very important role in the medical and professional history of Louisiana.
Moses Littell — born June 2, 1789, near Elizabethtown, New Jersey — was already a physician when he came to Opelousas, where he married Constance Collins (1791-1864). That couple had four children: Mary Elizabeth Littell, Ann Eleanor Littell Millard, Hannah Maria Littell, and Susan Littell Boagni. Dr. Moses Littell died on Nov. 3, 1837.
Eliakin Littell — born on July 11, 1791, in New Jersey — married Ann Elizabeth Finley (Findley) (1794-1836) in the West Indies and moved to Opelousas. That couple had a number of children, including David Finley Littell, Robert Hart Littell (1823-1888) and Hannah Louisa Littell Mudd.
When Elizabeth died in 1836, Captain Littell married Mrs. Henrietta M. Wackerhagen of New York and had other children. Eliakim died on Nov. 25, 1864, at his residence on the Bayou Teche. Services were held at the Methodist Church in Opelousas, with burial in Myrtle Grove Cemetery. His widow, Henrietta, died on Oct. 26, 1890.
Capt. Eliakin Littell was a shipper by profession. When he settled in St. Landry Parish, he purchased a small 18th century building on the western end of a large plantation known as Popular Grove. That portion of land later became North Union Street in Opelousas. The building, constructed of crude lumber, and held together with pegs, had a front room and a small hallway. It dated back many years before it was purchased by Littell.
For years, the building was used as a freight office. The captain’s boats and barges would bring commerce from other places to the banks of the Bayou Courtableau in what is today Washington, where ox teams he owned picked it up and distributed it all over Southwestern Louisiana, as far as Lake Charles. The business part of his operation was conducted from the small building in Opelousas.
When Eliakin’s son, Dr. Robert Hart Littell, completed medical school in 1847, he converted his father’s office into his medical office. The medical office contained a front room used for receiving patients, a small hallway lined with book shelves, and a laboratory. Later, an extra room was added at the rear and used for the doctor’s study. As time went by, windows were added to the building, the inside walls were plastered and eventually, they were covered with wallpaper. In the early days, the building was surrounded by a 14-foot picket fence.
Dr. Littell had four sons, three of whom became doctors. The oldest of the doctors was Dr. R. M. (Bob) Littell, who first practiced with his father and eventually ended up in New Orleans. Dr. Bob was responsible for creating a number of other businesses in downtown Opelousas, including a drug store and the Littell Opera House that became the Sandoz Opera House. The second son was Dr. Theo Littell, who opened a practice in Ville Platte.
The third son was Dr. B. A. (Buster) Littell. When Dr. Robert Hart Littell became seriously ill in 1888, Dr. Buster was away at medical school. He rushed home just before his father died to receive instructions from him about the medical practice and the patients he served. Dr. Buster took over where his father left off and remained in Opelousas his entire life.
Dr. Buster was well prepared to carry on the family medical name in that little office on Union Street. He was well liked in the community and was involved in many of the civic and social clubs. Besides being a doctor, he was also a politician. He served as a member of the Opelousas Board of Police and was elected mayor at the turn of the 20th century. He served as mayor for a number of years, and was also the city judge for a short time.
After almost half a century of medical practice from that little office on Union Street, Dr. Buster Littell died in 1936. Before he died, he called for his son, Dr. W. C. Littell, who was a medical student at Tulane, and asked that he take over the family medical practice in the little doctor’s office. Dr. W. C. started his practice in that office and remained there until 1938 when he joined other physicians in establishing the St. Landry Clinic on Market Street. When Dr. Littell vacated the little building, it was used for a short time as the WPA office.
So that small building on Union Street had been a shipping office for more than 30 years before it became a medical office that was used for almost 100 years. It served four Littell family physicians from 1847 until 1938. Although it was small in size, it was a giant part of the town.
In 1940, when it was determined the little building had no more commercial value, Dr. Buster Littell’s widow gave her permission to have it torn down. She asked that the demolition be done on April 11, the anniversary of her husband’s entrance into the medical profession.
On that day, residents of Opelousas awoke to the sounds of demolition. The little structure that was so much a part of the community was gone so quickly, and Opelousas lost what was said to be its oldest building.
That small building saw Opelousas become a part of the United States. It stood through the Civil War. It withstood weather and time and survived for almost two centuries. But what Dr. Buster’s office could not survive was the wrecking ball.
Let’s talk Opelousas again.