“Father Patrick Maginnis came from Garryowen in 1852 to be the first resident pastor in the county. That year he saw to the building of the first church, a small frame structure, planned to serve as both church and school, but there is no school…
"In 1947 Archbishop Henry P. Rohlman founded All Saints Parish in the southeast quarter of Cedar Rapids. In 1959 Archbishop Leo Binz established Saint Pius X Parish in the northeast quadrant and chose the Saint Jude Parish site in the northwest area.…
St. Stephen in Cedar Falls is home to the Catholic Student Center. In 1897, The Catholic Student's Club was organized. It was noted in 1907 that, "The Association's purpose is to enable the Catholic students to more fully realize that religion is an…
"When Father Stephen J. Kucera was appointed pastor of Prairieburg in 1927, he soon recognized Central City, eight miles west, as a potential parish. Central City’s location on busy highway 13 marked it for growth. In 1932 he secured the vacant…
"Chester had a post office as early as 1858, but it was only in 1916 that Catholics had their first church. With the help of Father John P. Wagner of Assumption Parish in Cresco, they bought the Presbyterian church for $1,500. In 1919 Father Edward…
"Saint Theresa Parish began with the acquisition of forty acres of land, as did so many of the rural parishes of the 1850s. This transaction in 1853 makes it the 14th parish in the history of the present territory of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The…
"In 1899 the pastor of the Gilbert parish, Father Henry C. Eckhart, celebrated the first Mass in the Ames community. The Gilbert church and rectory were in the country, some miles from the town of Gilbert. Father Eckhart was followed by Father…
“During the three-year pastorate of Father Michael Daly, a new parish site was purchased near the center of the city at 1010 Des Moines Street, and Father Thomas J. O’Brien supervised the building of the present brick church dedicated to Saint Thomas…
"Immigrants of Slavic ancestry in the Cedar Rapids area gather at Immaculate Conception Church in Cedar Rapids for Sunday Mass. For their convenience, Father Clement J. G. Lowery frequently invited Bohemian missionaries. Prominent among them were…