Browse Items (254 total)

"Families of Irish railroad workers in the 1850s were the nucleus of Saint Patrick Parish in Anamosa, the county seat of Jones County. The present brick church near the center of the town, completed in 1929, was the third church for the parish. The…

History of the St. Nicholas church and parish of Spruce Creek, Iowa

"For Saint Michael’s first century we rely somewhat on an anonymous history brought up to date in 1987, but probably begun many years earlier. That history states that two Czechs, Albert Cobeen and Frank Yarick started to build a church. Lacking…

“The first Catholics in Norway area were of Czech heritage, and the first priests came to minister to them in their own language. Father Anthony D. Urban visited them while pastor of Spillville and celebrated the first Mass in the area in 1865 in the…

“The Catholics of Nashua in Chickasaw County bought property and built a church in 1868. Before that, Mass was celebrated in the homes of the O’Donnells and the Doughertys. After forty years as a mission, the parish received its first resident pastor…

"The advent of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad with its shops attracted some to Belle Plaine, and the fertile farm land brought others to the area. As more Catholics arrived, Sunday Mass outgrew private homes and the public school was used until…

"On April 8, 1928, Father Joseph F. Wiehl and three members of his parish in Chester drove through muddy roads to nearby McIntire in the northeast corner of Mitchell County. There he celebrated the Easter Mass with more than one hundred faithful of…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of Saint Matthias parish in Cascade, Iowa.

"Saint Matthew Parish began in August 1922 when Archbishop James J. Keane sent Father DanielP. Mulcahy from Vinton to Cedar Rapids. He had no church and only a few parishioners. In 1926 a combination brick church-school-rectory was completed and…

“Eight men organized Eagle Township in Black Hawk County in 1858. At least three of them are buried in the Eagle Center parish cemetery. A majority of the first settlers were Catholic. The first church was built on five acres of high ground, but…