Browse Items (5731 total)

"Sacred Heart Parish began as a branch school of the Stacyville parish for the Meyer area pioneers. Both communities are in Mitchell County. Toward the close of the 1880s, the Stacyville parish had grown so large as to need a larger school. The Meyer…

“The first priests to visit the Catholic pioneers of the Maquoketa area in Jackson County came from Saint Patrick’s in Garryowen. Before the Maquoketa Catholics had a church of their own they went to the Garryowen or Otter Creek churches. After…

“Father Michael J. Farrelly was appointed the first resident pastor in 1897. Beginning with his appointment, the pastor of Manly also cared for the mission church at Plymouth. About a year later the parish built a rectory, destroyed by fire after a…

"From 1872 to 1875 Father Michael Quirk, pastor of Elkport served the needs of the Littleport parish and the earliest records go back to his time.Father Edward L. Dullard next served as pastor from 1893 to 1898.In the fall of 1898 Father Daniel T.…

“Before building a frame church in 1887, the Catholics of La Porte City in Black Hawk County gathered for monthly Mass in the home of Peter Trost whenever Father Thomas F. O’Brien visited them from his Eagle Center Parish. These pioneers built a…

"Pioneer Catholic families settled in Grundy County in the late 1860s, during the hard times following the Civil War. Father Patrick Smith visited them from Cedar Falls almost monthly. His successor, Father Charles McCabe, continued to provide for…

"Green Island is a small Mississippi River town in the extreme southeastern corner of Jackson County and of the Archdiocese of Dubuque and named for the only patch of green showing during the high water. The town was first called Clarkestown or…

"Father David J. Lonergan arrived in November of 1890 to found the parish, staying in the Gordon home until a residence could be provided. Pastor and parishioners chose high ground on the Military Road, near the small town of Fillmore and about eight…

"Foreseeing the need for a much larger church, Father Kortenkamp worked with his assistant, Father Joseph Brinkmann, to plan and construct the present Gothic style church with twin spires towering over 200 feet, until recent years the largest church…

"Seven pastors have served Dubuque’s Sacred Heart Parish during its 110 year history. Father Fredrick William Pape was the first. Many young families had settled in the northern part of the city in the 1870s and industry developed in that area. As…