Browse Items (254 total)

“At least five parishes in the Archdiocese in the 1880s boasted two Catholic churches where one would have been sufficient except for a variety of languages. One such town was Norway in Benton County, where Saint Michael’s was the first parish,…

"The growth of Cedar Rapids in the 1940s prompted Archbishop Henry P. Rohlman to establish a parish in the southeast quarter of the city in 1947. He appointed Father Bernard G. Collins pastor of the new parish, which was named All Saints. There were…

"All Saint Parish, Rowley, was established by Father William Leen after he became a pastor of Walker in 1894. After the Rowley Catholics built the church in 1896 at his direction, Father Leen continued to care for the Walker parish and three…

"As early as September 1866, the Catholics west of Dubuque in the Lattnerville area met with Catholics of the Centralia area to build a church. Unable to agree on a suitable location, the Lattnerville people quietly turned to Father Alois Meis of…

“In 1902 the Catholics were numerous enough to buy the vacant Methodist Church in Little Turkey for $500 and Fathers John Broz and Peter Kloss blessed it. Father Joseph Dostal, pastor of Spillville and brother to the two Dostal founders, celebrated…

"Sylvia, where the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located, was first called Sylvia, which is Latin for “the woods.” When the narrow gauge railroad came to the little town in 1879, it became Sylvia Switch, and was sometimes…

"The oldest Catholic parish in Howard County began with four families from Canada with the family names of Christmas, Hannigan, Ryan and Welsh. At first priests from Prairie du Chien came to serve them, but in 1853 Father Clement Lowery from Decorah…

“Having observed the westward growth of Waterloo, Archbishop Henry P. Rohlman announced in 1947 the founding of a new parish in Waterloo to be called Blessed Sacrament. He appointed Father Louis A. Putz as pastor and temporary chaplain of Saint…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of the Epiphany Parish Merger in Mason City, Iowa.

"From 1898 to 1902 Father Eckhart was pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Gilbert. The church was on the western edge of Story County, about five miles north of Ames and west of the town of Gilbert but call “the Gilbert parish.” In the…