According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2), all land.

Gleanings from old records indicate that Chataignier's first settler was Ursiana Manuel, who came from Mexico via New Orleans circa 1793 when Louisiana was a Spanish colony and George Washington was serving as President of the new republic known as the United States of America.

Other early settlers mentioned include Jacques Fontenot, Louis Redan, General Garis de Flaugeac, Artemon Lafleur, and Valentine Savoy.

Savoy, incidentally, was the first man to begin the manufacture of spinning wheels in this part of the country; he operated a large plantation, a cotton gin and a saw mill.

The settlers of Chataignier have long enjoyed the benefits of religion (predominantly Catholic), education and postal service, in that order.

Records show that it was first a mission of St. Landry Catholic Church in Opelousas beginning in 1856 but that in 1869 it was created as a separate parish called Our Lady of Mount Carmel.