St. Boniface Catholic Church is a parish of the

Diocese of Sioux City The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City ( la, Diœcesis Siopolitanensis) is the Roman Catholic diocese for the northwestern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The cathedral p ...

. The church is located in a residential area west of downtown

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

, United States. The parish buildings form 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 ...

that 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 1998 as St. Boniface Historic District. At the time of its nomination it contained three resources, all of them

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. with

History

In December 1885 a meeting was held by German Catholics in Sioux City to form a new parish. It was the second parish in the city. They purchased two lots on the corner of West Fifth and Main Streets for $1,500. The Rev. John A Gerleman was appointed the parish's first pastor on Christmas Eve 1886. A small frame church was built and the first Mass in the church was celebrated on July 17, 1887. The parish school opened the same year with Franciscan Sisters from Dubuque, Iowa teaching in the school. The parish was started when Sioux City was still in the

Diocese of Dubuque The Archdiocese of Dubuque ( la, Archidiœcesis Dubuquensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa counti ...

. It became a parish in the Sioux City diocese when it was formed in 1902. In 1906

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Friars A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

from the Sacred Heart Province started serving the parish. That year the Rev. Seraphin Lampe, OFM, became the pastor that year and plans were made for a new church. A new church and

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

were built on West Fifth Street between Omaha and Cook Streets. Brother Leonard Darschield, OFM, designed the new church in the Romanesque Revival style. The new church was dedicated by Bishop Philip Garrigan on September 4, 1911. That same a year a new convent for the sisters was built. It was also designed by Brother Leonard and looked similar to the church and rectory. It was torn down in 1993 to add parking spaces after a fire gutted its interior. The present school building and heating plant were designed by prominent Sioux City architect

William LaBarthe Steele William LaBarthe Steele (May 2, 1875 – March 4, 1949) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered a principal member of the Prairie School Architectural Movement during the early 20th century. Career After graduating f ...

, and completed in 1924. The Sisters of the Living Word started staffing the school in 1975. In 1986 the Franciscan Friars left the parish and were replaced by priests from the diocese. The schools from St. Boniface, St. Joseph, and the Cathedral of the Epiphany consolidated in 1987 to form Holy Family School. Subsequently, the three parishes have been clustered as well. Weekend Masses are celebrated in St Boniface Church in English and Spanish. File:St. Boniface Church (Sioux City) from SW 1.jpg, Church File:St. Boniface school (Sioux City) from NE 2.jpg, School File:St. Boniface (Sioux City) heating plant from NE 1.jpg, Heating plant

Architecture

The church building measures with a tower over the front

Gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

. At the time it was built, St. Boniface Church was the tallest structure in Sioux City. The exterior is clad with brick from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

and the trim is in Bedford limestone. The building features a symmetrical facade of three

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

, four roof

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

s each on the north and south elevations, and a rounded

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

on the east elevation. The 66

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 in the church include round-arch widows and a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

. They were produced in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1910. The interior features a

rib vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic ...

ed ceiling that rises above the floor. The original wood altars were carved by a Franciscan brother. Statues of

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

and

St. Patrick ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

are located on the high altar, while statues of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

and

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

are on the side altars. A social hall is located in the basement. The attached rectory is a 2½-story front gable residence that features the same detailing and materials as the church. The two-story brick school building was designed to reflect the style of the church. It features a projecting center bay on its north elevation that includes the main entrance. It has a flat roof. The building has been altered over the years. The simple, two-story brick power plant was built at the same time as the school. It is located directly behind the school building and it includes a tall concrete smokestack.

References

External links

Parish website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Boniface Catholic Church, Sioux City, Iowa German-American culture in Iowa Roman Catholic churches completed in 1911 Romanesque Revival church buildings in Iowa Roman Catholic churches in Sioux City, Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Sioux City, Iowa Religious organizations established in 1886 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Historic districts in Sioux City, Iowa 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States