Madisonville mayor ready for town'€™s birthday bash in 2011

More than 60 years ago Peter Gitz could not have had a better life.

Glazed over with sentiment, his eyes drifted upward as he recalled the olden days.

“I look back as a young boy…we had a farm. I couldn’t have had a better life,” Gitz, the longtime mayor of Madisonville, said.

It’s been 32 years since he became mayor and even longer since he spent most of his waking hours working on his family’s farm in St. Tammany’s oldest settlement.

However, Gitz’ roots span further back than that.

Gitz said his great-grandfather, who’s buried in the town cemetery, traveled to the tiny seaside community from Germany in 1849.

“We think he came here after struggling as a winemaker,” Gitz said.

Since then, Gitz, like many of his kinfolk, remained in Madisonville and will likely get to witness the 200th birthday of their hometown.

The town’s original charter, still in use today, was officially signed into law in 1811.

With that in mind, town officials are planning a big birthday bash.

Gitz said the plans are in the preliminary stages since the bicentennial is still two years away, but he said he wants to form a committee to plan a blockbuster birthday for his historic town.

Madisonville first began as Coquille, meaning shell in French, but was renamed in 1810 after President James Madison, according to the St. Tammany Parish Tourist & Convention Commission.

Naval battles were fought in the tiny town during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The Tchefuncte River played an important roll as a shipping route to New Orleans. Great wooden ships were also constructed at the Jahncke Shipyard, now extinct, for the U. S. Navy during World War I.

Gitz is hoping to have a re-enactment of what life was like in the early 1800s during the celebration, maybe to also include a steamboat.

“In a separate weekend maybe we could reenact the fight that took place down here during the Civil War and maybe finalize it with the Wooden Boat Festival,” Gitz said.

Thanks to its colorful upbringing, the town of nearly 700 is full of history that continues to stand today.

The historic lighthouse built in 1838 is on the National Register of Historic Places as are seven other locations in Madisonville.