St. Patrick Church

Irish and German immigrants first came to this area, known as Stony Creek, in the 1840s. The settlement was also called Athlone, after a city significant in Ireland’s military history. Redemptorist missionaries served Catholics here from 1847 until 1855. On March 17, 1847, they celebrated the dedicatory mass of their first church, which was built of logs donated by parishioners. On June 26, 1860, the cornerstone was laid for the present church; six months later the church was completed. Built in the Round-Arch mode, it once had a lofty spire surrounded by finials. On December 27 Bishop Lefevere appointed Father Desiderius Callaert the first resident pastor of Stony Creek, and St. Patrick’s gained the full status of a parish.