St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall
About this property
St. Michael's Catholic Church is a former parish of the Diocese of Davenport. The church is located in the unincorporated village of Holbrook, east of Parnell, Iowa, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory, and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall in 1983. The parish buildings represent the Irish-Catholic settlement of Holbrook. The area of Iowa County, Iowa that became known as Holbrook was settled by Irish immigrants or descendants of Irish immigrants. Thomas Hanson, one of those settlers, brought the priest from Iowa City in his lumber wagon and Mass was celebrated in his home. People from the surrounding area would gather for the Mass. The former rectory sits across the highway from the church and the former Hibernian Hall is across the cemetery to the west. The cemetery surrounds the church on three sides. Other than a few houses, they are all that is left of the village which at one time had a post office and a store. The parish was established in 1843 and plans to erect a church were begun. A small frame church was built in what is now St. Michael's Cemetery, near the site of the present church building. The Rev. Mathias Hannon, who came to Holbrook from St. Mary's in Iowa City for the first time in 1853, described the church thus, "I said mass within before the floor was laid, had the beautiful snow for carpet, and a pine box for an altar in fact a place as forlorn as the stable wherein the Savior was born. There was no more than fourteen families." Bishop Mathias Loras of the Diocese of Dubuque assigned the Rev. Peter J. Sullivan as the first resident pastor. He built the current church building in the Romanesque Revival style in 1867. The building is constructed of brick, measures 90 by 50 feet (27 by 15 m), and cost about $2,000 to build. The pastor himself donated the paintings for the Stations of the Cross, which cost $1,000. They are no longer in the church and what happened to them is unknown. St. Michael's became a parish of the Davenport Diocese when it was established in 1881. Alterations were made to the buildings as the years continued. The bell, which is still in the tower, was cast in St. Louis in 1882. A new dome was placed on top of the bell tower during the pastorate of the Rev. Thomas King (1889–1909). During the pastorate of the Rev. Edward Gaule (1909–1917) a new sanctuary with new altars was added to the church. The new bell tower, the third one constructed on this site, was added at this time as well. An addition was added onto the rectory when the Rev. John J. Moriarity (1917–1922) was the pastor. The Rev. James M. Ryan (1922–1927) added stucco to the exterior of the church during his pastorate.
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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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Questions about this property
When was St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall listed on the National Register?
St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 1983.
What type of historic resource is St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall?
St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall?
The period of significance for St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall?
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