Ste. Genevieve Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church located in

Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Ste. Genevieve (french: Sainte-Geneviève ) is a city in Ste. Genevieve Township and is the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,999 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1735 by French Canadian colonist ...

, the first organized European settlement west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

in the United States of America .

History

The cornerstone of this church was laid down on April 30, 1876. The cross was placed upon the steeple on November 1, 1879, with the building consecrated on September 29, 1880. Three-fourths of the cost of church was donated by Odile Pratte Valle, widow of Felix Valle, a grandson of Francois Valle I. The Catholic faith first came to the Ste. Genevieve area when

Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Igna ...

traveled down the Mississippi River in 1673. The parish of Ste. Genevieve was officially started in January 1759 by Jesuits who came from Quebec. Christian and Catholic history in the region goes back at least until the 1750s, although missionary priests from

Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois. Having been inhabited by indigenous peoples, it was settled by France as part of the Illinois Country. It was named for the Kaskaskia people. Its population peaked at about 7,000 in the 18th c ...

, and across the Mississippi River may have visited the area earlier. It is believed that a church was erected in the area around 1752 or 1754. The earliest marriage record dates back to 1759. The first regular pastor, Jean Baptiste de la Morinie, served from November 10, 1761, until October 15, 1763. The year 1763 was the year of the Jesuit expulsion from French America. The site of the present church has been used as a church since the 1790s when old log church was possibly moved here to higher ground in 1794. An early stone church was erected on this site in 1835 and consecrated on November 12, 1837. The current church was built around the previous stone structure. The foundations of the previous log and stone churches are still visible in the basement of the present church. The present church was designed by Francis Xavier Weiss, a legendary pastor who served the parish of Ste. Genevieve from 1865 until 1900, and was built in a Gothic Revival style. In 1911, the church was enlarged with the rear wall removed and a hexagonal as aspe and two small transepts erected. The church is linked to a 1925 rectory of

American Foursquare The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass-produced elements of the Victorian architecture, Victorian and other Revival styles popul ...

and Spanish Colonial style. Commandant Francois Valle II and a few of his family members and pastors are buried below the church nave. As of 2013, the church serves about 1,100 families and has about two dozen relics. One relic belonged to Ste. Genevieve, the patron of Paris, and was placed around the neck of her statue inside the church. Between Christmas Eve 2012 and January 4, 2013, some saints' relics were stolen from the church. Afterwards, the relic of Ste. Genevieve was moved to a more secure location.

References

{{Authority control 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States French-American history Gothic Revival church buildings in Missouri Roman Catholic churches completed in 1880 Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis Buildings and structures in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri