Sacred Heart Church of Dupo to celebrate 100 years!

H ISTORY
SACRED HEART
since 1912
Sacred Heart Church of Dupo to celebrate 100 years!
The first Catholic church in
the area was founded by the
Jesuits for French settlers at
Cahokia in 1699, and the first
parish church known as Holy
Family was formed on June
4, 1701. Most Catholic families in the area attended this
church for many years.
In 1890 the mission of St.
Joseph’s was started in East
Carondelet. A church seating
48 (this church was located
between E.C. School and Hy.
Stratmann), was built in 1896,
with Father F. Berkenbrock as
the priest. The mission, which
had very poor attendance, remained active until 1912, and
was still attached to Holy Family in Cahokia.
Sometime in 1912, Father J.
Wiemar was appointed pastor
of the mission, with residence
at Holy Family. Father Wiemar
accompanied with His Excellency, Most Rev. Henry Althoff,
D.D., Bishop of Belleville, visited the mission at East Carondelet and inspected the church
which was in a sadly dilapidated condition. The Bishop at
this time granted permission
to raze the building and to use
the material for construction
of a church to be erected at
Dupo. Dupo was a phenomenally growing railroad town.
In June, 1914, a census was
The first permanent church building in Dupo was built in 1914
taken of the Catholic population of Dupo and this census
proved that there were 33 families, 15 of whom were Catholic and 18 mixed. In addition
there were 13 single men, 31
children under school age,
and 27 children of school age,
a total of 134 souls.
There was a meeting held at
the Sharp residence, located
on Second and Emma, on
June 29,1914 and it was decided to establish a parish in
Dupo. On June 30, 1914, Father Wiemar visited His Excellency, Most Rev. Henry Althoff,
D.D., Bishop of Belleville, who
granted permission to establish a parish in Dupo.
The first Mass offered in Dupo
took place on Sunday, July
5, 1914, in the Robert Sharp
Building. The first baptism
which took place in the Dupo
parish was that of Edward
Hamilton, son of P.C. and
Mary Hamilton, on July 14,
1914. The first private Communion class received its First
Holy Communion on Ascension Thursday, May 27, 1915.
After a number of meetings the
majority of the Dupo parishioners favored the purchase of
lots 13 and 14 in the Lindemann Subdivision on S. Third
St. and proceed to construct a
church. The price of the lots
was $300.00.
The first permanent church
was the brick building (see
photo above), which was later
story continues on other side
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The white church was built in 1924
used for the rectory, convent
and school.
The contract
which called for an expenditure of $1,848.00 was let in
November, 1915. The building was finished by Christmas
and the first Mass was celebrated in the new brick church
on Christmas day in the year
1915.
In September of 1920, lots 11
and 12 were purchased at a
cost of $1200.00. Father Wiemar, who to date, was attending to Dupo as a mission of
Cahokia, came to this parish
as it’s first resident pastor on
April 27, 1921. It soon became
evident that the brick church
was inadequate to house the
congregation which was growing and plans were therefore
made for a larger church in the
year 1923. The white church
(see photo above), was erected at a cost of $6,756.
A parochial school was opened
in the year 1923, and notwithstanding trying difficulties progressed nicely under the care
of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood.
The white church was dedicated by His Excellency, Most
Rev. Henry Althoff,, D.D., Bishop of Belleville on Sunday, May
11, 1924. According to the
newspaper articles from both
the Messenger and the Daily
Journal (later the East Louis
Journal) the dedication of the
new church was an event “that
Dupo will long remember”.
There was a parade of about
300 automobiles that assorted
the Bishop to Dupo, the choir
was from St. Peter and Paul’s
church in Waterloo. The Bishop congratulated the pastor
and the parishioners for the
excellent job and cooperation
on the part of all in completing
the project of the new church
building in just four months.
Father Wiemar left Dupo to accept the position of chaplain at
St. John’s Orphanage on December 11, 1924 and was succeeded by Father Moormann
on December 12, 1924, who
continued the good work of
Father Wiemar and improved
the buildings by having the
church painted on the outside
and beautifully frescoed on the
inside. The impressive and
devotional Stations of the Way
of the Cross were a donation
from members of the parish.
Father Moorman bought and
remodeled two houses on the
South Side of the church at
Third and Sophia, one being
the rectory and the other the
convent.
In August of 1953 Father Slattery was named pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Dupo,
and remained there until 1955.
In May of 1955, Rev. Edmund
W. Lugge was named Administrator of Sacred Heart Parish
and was appointed pastor in
August of that same year.
Within 1953 through 1955,
Sacred Heart parish began to
grow rapidly and within a short
time it was necessary to make
plans for a new school. Consequently, the parish bought
a home on the north end of
the 100 block of S. Third St.
and renovated the building
to be used as a new Sisters
convent. The school (the first
brick building), which in 1955
housed the entire student
body, was then converted into
a one-classroom school and
the former convent was made
into a second classroom. By
Christmas it was necessary to
supply another classroom to
house part of the student body
and, consequently, a second
classroom was made in the
former convent. In the late
summer of 1957 came the big
date in the history of the parish
when ground was broken for
the new school which was begun immediately. The cornerstone for the new school was
blessed by Father Lugge on
Sunday, April 13, 1957. The
new school was dedicated on
Sunday, May 25, 1957.
In December, 1959 Bishop Albert Zuroweste extended the
boundaries of Sacred Heart
to the area South of the East
Side of the Levee and Sanitary
District to the St. Clair County Line to the south, the river
to the west and east to Triple
Lakes Rd. to Imbs Station Rd.
to Weber Rd., at which time it
was necessary to remodel and
enlarge the white church.
In 1971 the house on Third
and Emma was converted into
the rectory.
to be continued
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