History

1875 - Rev. Henry M. Plaster visited Germany with other local clergy and invited six Sisters of St. Francis Seraph of Lafayette (now known as St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration) to move to the Indiana. The sisters later came to live at Saint Joseph Church.

1879 - Caroline Hohman, a member of the Episcopal Church, donated one acre of land on the corner of present day Hohman and Russell Street to Father Francis Xavier Baumgartner. The first frame church measured 30 ft x 60 ft and cost roughly $1,000 to build. The church was officially established on April 29, 1879.

1885 - After Father Baumgartner died, the Rev. Henry M. Plaster was appointed pastor. He served the parish for 31 years.

1889 - As the parish increased in size, a two-story brick church was built, measuring 50 ft x 100 ft.

1898 - The Sister of St. Francis living at Saint Joseph Church established the first hospital in Lake County: St. Margaret Mercy hospital. Their mission expanded into what we know today as the Franciscan Health network.

1910 - The parish had grown to 350 families. And Father Plaster announced that a new, significantly larger church would be built in the Romanesque style. This building would seat 1,000 people. Back then it cost $90,000 to build the church that still stands today.

1912 - When the cornerstone was laid for the new church, a large ceremony was held which included a parade with over 2,000 people.

1913 - This church building formally opened in, although all the furnishings and ornate decorations were not completed until many years later.

1916 - Father Plaster retired and Father John Berg was appointed as pastor.

1919 - Father Berg had 52 stained glass windows installed in the church that were designed by FX Zettler of Munich. Father Berg also had plans for adding frescoes in the church, but he fell ill and died in 1927 without accomplishing that goal. Instead, the new pastor, Father Francis J. Jensen fulfilled adding frescoes to the church. By the time Father Jansen became pastor, the parish boasted 800 growing families. With that growth, the parish also required a convent for the nuns and a school. The sisters decided that the school took priority, so the school was built first. The building utilized today as the Religious Education building was originally the convent built for the sisters.

to be continued…