Saints Peter and Paul Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in New Hradec,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

. The church, which was built in 1917, was designed by Nick Ressler with elements 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 ...

and

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

styles. The church has historically served a unique congregation of Czech immigrants from the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and is considered to be the most significant representation of New Hradec's Czech heritage. It 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 1986.

History

New Hradec was founded in 1887 by

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n immigrants from the Crimea; its first settlers are the only documented Bohemian immigrants from the Crimea to have settled in America. These settlers established the parish of Saints Peter and Paul in 1898 by building a wood church. This church burned down in May 1917, and the congregation built the current structure later in the year. The new church was dedicated and its

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

laid on August 19, 1917; it was designed by Nick Ressler of

Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still res ...

and contracted by Charles Bakke of Dickinson. From 1918 to 1950, the church also served as a school, with classes taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Throughout its history, the church has used the Czech language, hosted and been supported by Czech cultural organizations and has been a defining institution for the Czech community of New Hradec. Due to its cultural significance to the local Czech community, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 3, 1986.

Architecture

Saints Peter and Paul Church was built with common and brown brick and exhibits elements of the

and

styles. In particular, Tudor influences can be seen in the

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

on the windows, the archway around the door, and the church's

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es. The structure consists of a church and a school building, the latter being approximately half the size of the former. The church has a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

with an eight-sided wooden spire at its peak. The interior of the church seats 300 and has a high degree of historical integrity, including the original wood floors and pews. A significant amount of

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

statues can be found inside the church, including plaster

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

. The church is considered to have remarkable integrity of both design and building materials for its location and function.

References

External links

* {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck, state=collapsed Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck Crimean culture Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in North Dakota Roman Catholic churches completed in 1917 Czech-American culture in North Dakota Gothic Revival church buildings in North Dakota Tudor Revival architecture in North Dakota Ukrainian-American culture in North Dakota National Register of Historic Places in Dunn County, North Dakota 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States 1917 establishments in North Dakota