Holy Guardian Angels Church and Cemetery Historic District is a nationally recognized

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

located in Roselle, Iowa, United States. Holy Guardian Angels is a former

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of the Diocese of Sioux City. The historic district made up of the former

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

and

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2019. It is significant for the architecture of the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church and the influence of the German-Catholic immigrants who settled the area.

Church

Lambert Kniest bought of land in Carroll County that would become known as Mount Carmel. Bishop John Hennessy of

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

sent German Catholics to settle the area and start farms. They established the county's first Catholic church in 1868. Catholics from Roselle traveled there for Mass until 1874 when they founded their own parish and built a frame church, which the called ''Heilige Schutzengels Kirche'' (Holy Guardian Angels Church). Except for four families who were

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, the community was made up of Catholics. Carroll County would grow to have the highest concentration of German Americans of any county in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. As the parish and town grew they needed a new church, and they built the present structure in 1904. There was no railroad into Roselle, so the building materials had to be hauled into the town using horse-drawn wagons on primitive roads. It took more than a year to build the church and cost the parish $48,000. The brick Gothic Revival church features an

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

foundation and a central tower that rises . The

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

ed ceiling in the interior rises above gilded altars, numerous statues of saints and angels, elaborate

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows,

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s, and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s. The last renovation of the church was carried out by Langenfeld Studios in 1929. A

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

was established by the parish in 1888, and the

Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women whose motherhouse, St. Rose of Viterbo Convent, is in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of La Crosse. The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual ...

from

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

began teaching there in 1899. There was a

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

for the students who boarded there in the winter months. The parish added a

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

building in 1916, and the parish schools served the community until they were incorporated into the

Kuemper Catholic School System Kuemper Catholic School System is a private, Roman Catholic PK-12 school in Carroll, Iowa. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City. It includes the elementary/middle school division and Kuemper Catholic High School, held in four ...

in Carroll in 1975. In 1977, the original school building was torn down and the junior high building was moved to a different location. The Diocese of Sioux City has subsequently closed Holy Guardian Angels Parish. The Holy Angels Church and Cemetery Foundation was incorporated with the State of Iowa in 1995 to care for the parish property.

Cemetery

The parish cemetery is located to the north of the church. Its earliest burial is from 1863. The grave markers include

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

and cross designs and iron crosses that were possibly made by local blacksmiths, which would have been the custom for that time. Numerous markers are engraved with German script.

References

External links

Holy Angels Forever of Roselle
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City Roman Catholic churches completed in 1904 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States German-American culture in Iowa Gothic Revival church buildings in Iowa Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City Buildings and structures in Carroll County, Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Religious organizations established in 1874 1874 establishments in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Carroll County, Iowa