In 1884, St. John’s was organized into a congregation, and the first church building was built one year later. Tragically, like many historic churches, fire destroyed the building in 1921. The current grand church was built in its place around 1922, with a touch of Gothic Revival in its styling.
Archive for the ‘Historic Churches in Minnesota’ Category
St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chaska
Friday, January 16th, 2009Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis
Monday, September 8th, 2008Built in 1910 and designed by Edwin Hawley Hewitt, St. Mark’s has been in Minneapolis for quite a while, and is in fact celebrating its 150th birthday this year. The church has an amazing history. Originally the church was located in downtown Minneapolis, but commerce forced the church to move to a location where parishioners could more easily access the parish. As luck would have it, the downtown land was worth a quarter of a million dollars, giving the church much needed money to relocate, and a generous parishioner sealed the deal when she offered part of her Loring Park estate for sale to the church.
The Moravian Church in Chaska
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008Saint Mathias Catholic Church – Hampton
Friday, March 21st, 2008St. Mary’s Catholic Church – New Trier
Friday, January 25th, 2008The Virginia Street Church in St Paul
Monday, October 22nd, 2007The Church of St Peter – the Oldest Parish in Minnesota
Thursday, September 6th, 2007Located on the banks of the Minnesota River, the area was originally inhabited by the Dakota (Sioux) Indians. When settlers arrived in the early 1800’s, they called the place St Peter. It wasn’t until 1852 that the name was changed to Mendota, meaning “meeting of the waters”. If you look on a map, Mendota is located where the Minnesota River and Mississippi River merge together.
The church shown in the photo was constructed in 1853, to replace the log cabin that had been used for the previous ten years. It was constructed with local limestone and hand-cut split shingles, and cost $4,500 to build.
The steeple has had its own share of excitement over the years. The original was very short and had no bell, being blown down in the 1880’s. The next replacement was taller and had a bell this time, but it only lasted 65 years when a tornado came through and destroyed it. In 1953, the current tower was constructed to celebrate its 100 year anniversary.
You can imagine that a building this old would one day need to be restored. In the late 1970’s a major restoration operation was begun at a cost of over $200,000. The limestone was cleaned, the steeple repaired, trusses and framework replace, etc. Today the “Historic Church” is only used for special events and weekday masses.
The Church of St Peter is a great architectural example of early church construction. It should be as it is the oldest Catholic parish in the entire state of Minnesota!