Backyard Adventures

38 PIKE PUBLISHING BACKYARD ADVENTURES 2016 PIKE COUNTY BLACKFOOT CHURCH - CIRCA 1800 Monroe Township Arguably the oldest church in Pike County, Blackfoot Church started as a log building in the early 1800s. It was named for the Blackfoot Native Americans: ac- cording to the old stories, a wagon traveling from Kentucky to Illinois camped in what is now Monroe Township. One of the women in the wagon party died during the encampment, and some members of the Blackfoot Tribe helped the travelers find a suitable place to bury her. In 1860, a new church was erected on the same lot, but was destroyed by a violent storm in 1895. In 1897, the congregation finished the rebuilding, and held the first homecoming for Blackfoot Church in 1903. The church is no longer standing, but the cemetery and a monument marking the church site are still there. MAIN STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - 1886 Petersburg In 1821, Main Street Presbyte- rian Church was founded as part of Cumberland Presbyterian congre- gation, purchased land to build a church for $1,000, and finished the building at a cost of $ 6,000. In 1886, the dedication of the present building took place. Rev. Charles W. Yates served as the first minister, and the church acquired its first of several pipe organs in 1896 —the first pipe organ in Pike County. The Old School Presbyterian and the Cumberland Presbyterian churches decided in September 1905 that they wanted to unite. On September 6, 1906, the Indiana Presbytery gave permission for the union and in November 1906, they became the Main Street Presbyte- rian Church. PLEASANT GROVE GENERAL BAPTIST CHURCH - 1895 MARION TOWNSHIP Three branches of the Spraggins family, some of the first settlers of southern Indiana after the Civil War, settled in and developed what is now Marion Township. On January 27, 1895, they orga- nized the Union General Baptist Church under the ministry of Elder Joseph Wiggs. Some months after organizing the church, the congregation moved services to a more centrally-located building and renamed the church "Pleasant Grove General Baptist Church." In 1901, the congregation rebuilt next to the existing cemetery, us- ing logs donated from members of the community. The construction took several years due to money shortages, but the new building was used for a community dinner honoring local teacher Abbie Sul- livan Smith at the end of the 1902- 1903 school year. Later that same year, the building was finished and dedicated. STS. PETER AND PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH - 1846 Petersburg Sts. Peter and Paul was estab- lished as a mission church in 1846 by the Old Cathedral of Vincennes. For the first 99 years of its exis- tence, the church floated between various pastors and parishes, due to the low number of Catholics in the area and the demand for priests elsewhere in the diocese. However, the church celebrated its centennial in 1946 and received its first resident pastor, Fr. Michael Wolf, that same year. In 1952, the church completed construction of a new parish hall. GIBSON COUNTY ST. JAMES CATHOLIC CHURCH - 1844 Haubstadt Construction on the first St. James Church building began in 1844 under the pastoral care of Fr. Conrad Schneiderjeans. The first church building was a 35'x25' log cabin, consecrated in 1846. The parish eventually outgrew this building, and a new cornerstone was laid in 1855 by Bishop Palais of Vincennes. Fr. Fredericus Wilhel- mus Peppersack, a newly-ordained priest, was appointed pastor of the parish that same year. The new church building was finished in 1857, and Michael and Emilie (Kuntz) Kissel were the first couple to wed in the new church. The old log building was converted into the parish's first school. In 1997, the church celebrated its sesquicentennial under the pas- toral care of Fr. Michael Madden. Madden Hall, which contains most of the parish school, now bears his name. FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH - 1845 Fort Branch The first service of Fort Branch's United Methodist Church was held in a schoolhouse in Little York in 1845, and the church's first building went up in 1857 at the corner of Strain and Lincoln streets on a $50 half-acre plot. In 1873, the growing church congre- gation dedicated a new building at the corner of Main and Vine streets. The church still stands there today, and though it's been remodeled several times, it is the oldest surviving church building in Fort Branch. MAUMEE GENERAL BAPTIST CHURCH - 1892 Rural Owensville Maumee was organized in 1892 and elected J.R. Edwards its first reverend. The residents of the Maumee area organized the church to replace a previous church that had been destroyed by a tornado in 1889. Since then, the church has been under the care of more than 35 pastors. The con- gregation purchased a parsonage in August 1943 and built Sunday school rooms on the side of the church building in October 1950. Fern Dike, on behalf of one of the church's Sunday School classes, donated a new piano to Maumee in March 1951. The congregation sold $ 65,000 in bonds to build a new church and celebrated reach- ing their sales goal with a "victory supper" on January 16, 1960. The new building was dedicated on April 30, 1961. OWENSVILLE METHODIST CHURCH - 1851 Owensville The plans to build Owensville Methodist Church began in 1850 during a revival preached by a Rev. Shumate. By 1851, bricks had been bought and laid to build the church, and Elder Elijah Whitten gave the sermon at the church's dedication in the spring of 1851. The building was remodeled twice before being replaced in 1908, and the last sermon given in the old building was on May 3, 1908. Tommy Gooch, who owned the brickyard where the first bricks were bought in 1851, cleaned the old bricks at no charge to be used in the new building. The new build- ing was dedicated on December 20, 1908, and an educational build- ing was added on in 1964. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 KNOX COUNTY ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHEDRAL AND LIBRARY - 1734 205 Church Street, Vincennes Jesuit missionaries established St. Francis Xavier parish around 1734, making it the oldest Catho- lic parish in Indiana. Its earliest parish records date from 1749. The present Greek Revival-style basilica, built on or near the site of two earlier Catholic churches, dates from 1826. In 1834, when Pope Gregory X VI erected the Diocese of Vincennes, St. Francis Xavier was elevated to a cathedral and served as the seat of the episcopal see from 1834 to 1898. Between 1834 and 1898, two of St. Francis Xavier's priests became bishops (Benedict Joseph Flaget, Bishop of Bardstown, and Célestine de la Hailandière, Bishop of Vincennes). The remains of the first four Bish- ops of Vincennes are buried in St. Francis Xavier's crypt. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH - 1845 803 Main Street, Vincennes Fr. Charles Schneiderjeans be- came the first pastor of St. John's in 1845, coming to the church from Evansville. The church purchased land and started keeping parish re- cords in 1847, then started its first church school in rented buildings in 1851. The church building was finally completed one year after that, and in 1866, the congregation doubled in size, thanks to a large influx of German immigrants to the area. St. John's regularly held German-language services until 1920. A fter seeing such outstanding growth, the church soon built a new school with four classrooms and a second floor hall in 1872, then renovated the church build- ing into its present form in 1890. St. John's celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1997, and is still celebrating Mass today under the care of Fr. Dave Fleck, the church's 15th pastor. MORE UNIQUE AREA CHURCHES HOLY ANGELS CATHOLIC CHURCH (CIRCA 1899) New Harmony, Posey County HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH (CIRCA 1951) Jasper, Dubois County The church has become world famous for its windows depict- ing the biblical story of the Holy Family and development of Jasper. One is 67-feet long and 45 -feet high, making it the second-largest stained-glass window in America.

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