St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Davenport, Iowa)
Encyclopedia
Saint Joseph Catholic Church is a former parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport
. The church is located in Davenport, Iowa
, United States
, at the corner of Marquette and W. 6th Streets. It is listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places
. The church building currently houses Grace Fellowship Church. Its school building houses Marquette Academy, a private non-denominational elementary school.
. The parish was named for St Kunigunda of Slavonia
, and served the German immigrants who settled in the western part of the city. Judge C. G. R. Mitchell donated the property for the church. A stone church building was dedicated May 25, 1856 by the parish’s pastor Father Flammang, who conducted the services in Latin and German. He was succeeded in 1857 by Rev. John Baumgarten who stayed for a year, and then the parish was without a pastor for six months. Rt. Rev. Msgr. Niermann became pastor on April 2, 1859.
As the parish continued to grow it was decided to build a new church. The cornerstone was laid in 1881, the same year as the Diocese of Davenport
was established. It was at this time that the parish name was changed to St. Joseph, probably because if its proximity to St. Mary’s Church
which was built two blocks to the west in 1867. The new church was dedicated on September 16, 1883. The building is a rectangular plan Gothic Revival structure with decorative brickwork and a central entrance tower. The former church building was converted into a school. St. Joseph School was served by the School Sisters of St. Francis from Milwaukee.
Significant changes occurred starting in the 1960s. The ethnic makeup of the neighborhood around St. Joseph changed. The original German immigrant community was gone and the people who replaced them were largely not Catholic. Changes were made in the liturgy to accommodate the reforms of the Second Vatican Council
. The liturgies were now celebrated in English. The communion rail was removed and a new altar, which allowed the priest to face the congregation, was put in place. The old altars and statues, however, remained in the church. By the 1970s sizeable numbers of Mexican Americans began moving into the area, and a liturgy in Spanish was added. The Spanish speaking community stayed until the late 1980s, when they moved to St. Mary’s.
The school continued until 1968 when it was merged with St. Mary’s School and renamed Holy Trinity. The merger lasted into the 1990s when St. Mary’s ended its participation. Because of declining numbers the diocese decided to close the school in 1999. An independent group of people bought the school that year and it reopened as Holy Trinity Mission School. A few years later it was renamed Marquette Academy.
The parish, which never had defined territorial boundaries because it was established as a German ethnic parish, continued to decline in numbers and it was also closed in 1999. The building became a part of Holy Trinity Mission School. In 2008 the church and rectory were purchased by a non-denominational congregation and it became Legacy Church.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport is a diocese of the Catholic Church for the southeastern quarter of the state of Iowa. There are within the diocese...
. The church is located in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, at the corner of Marquette and W. 6th Streets. It is listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. The church building currently houses Grace Fellowship Church. Its school building houses Marquette Academy, a private non-denominational elementary school.
History
The parish was originally established as St. Kunigunda’s in 1855 in the Diocese of DubuqueRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa counties north of Polk, Jasper, Poweshiek, Iowa, Johnson, Cedar, and Clinton counties. ...
. The parish was named for St Kunigunda of Slavonia
Kunigunda of Slavonia
Kunigunda Rostislavna was Queen consort of Bohemia and its Regent from 1278 until her death. She was a member of the House of Chernigov, and a daughter of the ruler of Slavonia....
, and served the German immigrants who settled in the western part of the city. Judge C. G. R. Mitchell donated the property for the church. A stone church building was dedicated May 25, 1856 by the parish’s pastor Father Flammang, who conducted the services in Latin and German. He was succeeded in 1857 by Rev. John Baumgarten who stayed for a year, and then the parish was without a pastor for six months. Rt. Rev. Msgr. Niermann became pastor on April 2, 1859.
As the parish continued to grow it was decided to build a new church. The cornerstone was laid in 1881, the same year as the Diocese of Davenport
Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport is a diocese of the Catholic Church for the southeastern quarter of the state of Iowa. There are within the diocese...
was established. It was at this time that the parish name was changed to St. Joseph, probably because if its proximity to St. Mary’s Church
St. Mary's Catholic Church (Davenport, Iowa)
Saint Mary's Catholic Church is a parish of the Diocese of Davenport. The church is located in Davenport, Iowa, United States, at the corner of Fillmore and W. 6th Streets. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church Complex...
which was built two blocks to the west in 1867. The new church was dedicated on September 16, 1883. The building is a rectangular plan Gothic Revival structure with decorative brickwork and a central entrance tower. The former church building was converted into a school. St. Joseph School was served by the School Sisters of St. Francis from Milwaukee.
Significant changes occurred starting in the 1960s. The ethnic makeup of the neighborhood around St. Joseph changed. The original German immigrant community was gone and the people who replaced them were largely not Catholic. Changes were made in the liturgy to accommodate the reforms of the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
. The liturgies were now celebrated in English. The communion rail was removed and a new altar, which allowed the priest to face the congregation, was put in place. The old altars and statues, however, remained in the church. By the 1970s sizeable numbers of Mexican Americans began moving into the area, and a liturgy in Spanish was added. The Spanish speaking community stayed until the late 1980s, when they moved to St. Mary’s.
The school continued until 1968 when it was merged with St. Mary’s School and renamed Holy Trinity. The merger lasted into the 1990s when St. Mary’s ended its participation. Because of declining numbers the diocese decided to close the school in 1999. An independent group of people bought the school that year and it reopened as Holy Trinity Mission School. A few years later it was renamed Marquette Academy.
The parish, which never had defined territorial boundaries because it was established as a German ethnic parish, continued to decline in numbers and it was also closed in 1999. The building became a part of Holy Trinity Mission School. In 2008 the church and rectory were purchased by a non-denominational congregation and it became Legacy Church.