Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church Historic District (Additional Documentation)

About this property

Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church is a former parish church of the Diocese of Davenport. The church is located southeast of Harper, Iowa, United States, in Clear Creek Township, Keokuk County. The church building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The parish property was listed as a historic district in 2021. The parish was known in the Davenport Diocese as Saints Peter and Paul, Clear Creek. German immigrants were some of the first people to settle Keokuk County. They were largely centered in Clear Creek and German Townships and their population, as well as that of the county itself, peaked in 1895. Because they remained independents they were a political force in the county and decided many county elections. Both townships founded Catholic parishes in the 1850s. Catholics in Clear Creek Township purchased 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land in 1857 for a Catholic church and cemetery. The parish was served by itinerant priests who would visit occasionally. The first Mass was celebrated in the log structure on the property in 1859, and the parish was organized in 1860. The parish started its first church building built of brick in 1863, which was dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul. The old log church was used for a school until 1875 when the first school building was erected. A rectory was built between 1893 and 1894 for a resident priest. The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi from Milwaukee taught in the parish school from 1895-1902. During this time plans for the current church structure were made. Ferdinand S. Borgolte from Rock Island, Illinois was chosen as the architect, and Harry Schroeder of Washington, Iowa as the contractor. the Hammes family also played a role in the construction, The bricks were produced by Fuller & Schumacher of Muscatine, Iowa. The cornerstone was laid on June 8, 1898, by Bishop Henry Cosgrove of Davenport. The church building was dedicated on April 18, 1899, and was built for about $10,000. In 1902 the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood taught in the school for a few months before lay teachers took over. The following year the School Sisters of St. Francis from Milwaukee came to teach in the school. A new school building with living quarters for the sisters was built in 1906. A new rectory was built in 1911. It was destroyed by a fire in 1930 when the present structure was built. Two of the three bells were placed in the tower in 1907. The larger of the two bells weighs 2,060 pounds (930 kg) and cost $566. The smaller bell weighs 1,100 pounds (500 kg) and cost $290. The German language was used until World War I for sermons and church services, when Latin was not used. Anti-German sentiment brought its use to an end. The cemetery's decorative fence was added in 1919 as a thanksgiving offering for the survival of all eighteen of the parish's servicemen in World War I and the lack of any deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic. The parish was one of fourteen in the Ottumwa Deanery that formed the Notre Dame Catholic Youth Organization in 1948. It provided social and other contacts for youth in the area. Lightning struck the church's bell tower in 1950 and set it on fire. The damage was minimal. In 1963 a parish hall was created in the basement of the church.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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