St. Josephs Church

Description:	Drawing of the first St. Josephs Church by Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Architect and Artist. St. Josephs Church, the First Catholic Church Built in Terre Haute. Drawing done by Miss Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Artist and Architect.The first Catholic Church building in Terre Haute was St. Josephs church and stood in the same location as does St. Josephs church of today.The earliest account of activity in the Catholic church here concerns a visit of Bishop brute in 1837. A Catholic lady by the name of Mrs. Williams heard of his contemplated visit and spoke of it to her friend Mrs. James Farrington who, though not a Catholic herself, offered her large home in which to hold a service.It seems fairly certain that the Bishop made arrangements at this time which culminated in the building of St. Josephs church. A lot was bought early in 1837, and before the year was out the church was started. In 1838, while here on a visit, Bishop brute wrote that the walls were already 20 feet from the ground and drew a sketch in his letter showing how the building looked. The church is thought to have been finished during 1838 but was not dedicated until 1840.The first priest was Father Buteux, a missionary priest who was working over an extensive area with his log church at Thralls Station as his headquarters. This little church was named Ste. Marie des Bois-St. Mary-of-the-Woods today. Father Buteux ministered to St. Josephs parish until about 1841.In 1842 Father Lalumiere came to Terre Haute, and the church grew and prospered under his guidance. In 1848 the property to the south of the church at Fifth and Walnut was purchased and The Old brick School which was standing there was remodeled to be used as a girls school. This school, called St. Vincent Academy, was opened January, 1849 with 28 pupils. It was conducted by the Sisters of Providence. This later became St. Joseph Academy.The church building was remodeled in 1866 by adding a new vestibule, a new front, a new tower and steeple, and enlarging the windows. This gave quite a different character to the exterior of the church.In the early seventies St. Josephs Academy became the St. Bonaventure Lyceum under the Franciscan Fathers, but was later returned to the Sisters of Providence under the old name St. Josephs Academy.By 1909 the old church was outgrown and in need of repairs, and it was agreed that it would be better to build a new building than repair the old one. Accordingly in 1910 the old church was torn down and a new one started. This church was dedicated in 1912 and is the church we know today, except for such work as was required in repairing the damage done by a fire in 1934.The illustration above is based on a drawing in the border of the map of 1854 and shows the church and St. Vincent Academy as they were at that time. The sketch in Bishop brutes letter shows a round apse which is not apparent in the view here shown.This picture shows the school as remodeled to be used for St. Vincent Academy, but the window arrangement does not conform to that shown in a drawing made in the seventies, which fact suggests that further alterations were made in the school after 1854. It was torn down only a year or so ago.These buildings have undergone many changes until the original structures have entirely disappeared, but I believe this is the only one of the early churches whose present day building is located on the same site as the original church.
Origin:	01/01/2005
Contributor(s):	Peddle, Juliet, 1899-1979
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/rose/id/809
Collection:	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Logan Library
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Architectural drawings Architecture Churches Catholic churches Steeples Schools Architecture Education Religion

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