Saint Ignatius Loyola Church is a church located at 703 East Houghton Avenue in Houghton, Michigan. The church was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1977 and 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 ...

in 1987.

History

Early Roman Catholics living in Houghton met for worship first in a boarding house and later in a school. Bishop

Frederic Baraga Irenaeus Frederic Baraga (June 29, 1797 – January 19, 1868; sl, Irenej Friderik Baraga) was a Slovenian Roman Catholic missionary to the United States and a grammarian by and author of Christian poetry and hymns in Native American langua ...

, then located in

L'Anse, Michigan L'Anse ( , oj, Gichi-Wiikwedong) is a village and the county seat of Baraga County, Michigan. The population was 1,874 at the 2020 census. The village is located within L'Anse Township in the Upper Peninsula, and partially inside the L'Anse In ...

, spearheaded efforts to build a new church. Ground was broken for the new church in early 1859, and on July 31, 1859, Bishop

dedicated the original St. Ignatius Loyola Church. Beginning in 1859, a long list of priests were assigned to the church, all of whom served for only a short time. However, in 1895, Father (later Monsignor) Antoine Ivan Rezek was appointed pastor to the parish. In the late nineteenth century, the Keweenaw Peninsula had seen an explosive growth due to the local

copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

industry, and a substantial, ethnically diverse population of Catholics had taken up residence in the Houghton area. One of Rezik's first priorities was the erection of a new church. Rezek hired the Milwaukee architectural firm of E. Brielmaier & Sons to design the church; Brielmaier designed a number of Catholic churches in the western

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Construction on this building began in 1898, and the church was finished in 1902. Anton Ivan Rezek remained as pastor of the church for a total of 51 years, until 1946. Three significant additions to the building were made in later years: a boxy, glassed-in portico, added in 1928, a rear addition, added between 1959 and 1964, and a connected building added in 1991–1992. Further interior renovations were made in 1959 and in the late 1980s.

Description

St. Ignatius Loyola Church is an imposing

Neo-Gothic 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 ...

structure located on the hillside above downtown Houghton. It is constructed of red,

Jacobsville sandstone Jacobsville Sandstone is a red sandstone formation, marked with light-colored streaks and spots, primarily found in northern Upper Michigan, portions of Ontario, and under much of Lake Superior. Desired for its durability and aesthetics, the san ...

with a symmetrical gabled facade centering on a square tower topped with a spire. The tower belfry contains a single brass bell, cast in 1860 by the Jones and Hitchcock Company of

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

. Stained glass windows, created by Gavin Art Glass Works of Milwaukee, were installed in the church in 1907. An elaborate Gothic altar adorns the nave.

References

External links

Official parish website
from the Diocese of Marquette {{DEFAULTSORT:Ignatius Loyola Church Houghton Churches in Houghton County, Michigan Buildings and structures in Houghton, Michigan Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette Roman Catholic churches completed in 1898 Michigan State Historic Sites in Houghton County National Register of Historic Places in Houghton County, Michigan Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States 1859 establishments in Michigan Sandstone churches in the United States Gothic Revival church buildings in Michigan

History

Description

See also

References

Further reading

External links