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PARISH HISTORY
First Church
Even before Minnesota was a state, St. Patrick’s Church was a parish. On
January 9, 1856, Bishop Cretin established our mission parish in the
township of Inver Grove. Within 10 years, the log church became too
small for the growing congregation. Many parishioners had to stand and
peer through the windows and door to participate at Mass.
Second Church
In 1867, a splendid modern wood frame church was built. The main body
could seat two hundred and fifty, and the gallery – fifty. It cost $6000
to build. The church was located within the confines of our present
cemetery.
On a Saturday in October, 1919, flames claimed both
the church and the rectory. No lives were lost. Without the expediency
of modern communication, the Sunday following the fire had many
parishioners surprised when they arrived for Mass. The church was not
rebuilt at that time and many parishioners scattered to neighboring
parishes.
St. Patrick’s was never officially dissolved because
the cemetery was still in use. Because of this technicality that
prevented the diocese closing the Church of St. Patrick, it is the
second oldest church in Dakota County.
Present Church
In 1959, the Franciscan Fathers of the Immaculate Conception Province,
Hollidaysburg, PA, offered to provide priests to staff the parish. The
first Mass in the reactivated parish was on October 18, 1959. Sunday
Masses were held at the Inver Grove School, while daily Mass was held in
the basement of the rectory. The present church building was completed
August 7, 1960.
The Franciscan Fathers left St. Patrick’s in January 1996, due to the
declining number of priests available in their order. The Archdiocese
resumed staffing the parish at that time.
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the construction of a
new St. Patrick Church took place on Saturday, March 17, 2001.
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