St. Patrick's Catholic Church is a historic

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

located in

Perry, Iowa Perry is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States, along the North Raccoon River. The population was 7,836 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is part of the Des Moines– West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Perry was ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The parish is part of the

Diocese of Des Moines The Diocese of Des Moines () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southwestern Iowa in the United States. It is a suffragan see in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque. ...

. The church building, which is built of stone in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, and the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2011.

History

The Rev. James Brazil from St. Ambrose Church in

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

offered the first Mass in Perry in 1871. He and other priests celebrated Mass in the homes of Catholic people in town. The property at the corner of Third and Lucinda streets was purchased in 1874 and a small frame building was constructed for a church. At the time it was part of the

Diocese of Dubuque The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque () 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. The Diocese of Dubuque was erected in 1837 and ...

. Father Brazil celebrated the first mass in the new church, and the Rev. Charles Toner became the parish's first pastor the same year. The parish became part of the

Diocese of Davenport The Diocese of Davenport () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Roman Catholicism in the United States, Catholic Church for the southeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. The current bishop of D ...

when it was established in 1881. As the Catholic community increased in size the church became too small. Plans were drawn up for a red

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

church that was completed in 1883. By the time the Rev. James Cleary became the pastor in 1898 the second church was also becoming too crowded. The parish voted to build a third church in 1900. It was designed by

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

architect George Stauduhar in the Late Gothic Revival style. He was responsible for designing over 200 churches between 1890 and 1928. The old church was taken down by Hollenbeck and Sons of

before the new church could be built. The

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was laid in 1901 and it was completed the following year by McCavick and Squires of

Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in Marshall County, Iowa, and is the county seat of the county. With a population of 27,591 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the 16th largest city in the state. Marshalltown is home to the Iowa Vetera ...

. The parish joined the Diocese of Des Moines when it was established in 1911. Renovations to the church were done in 1930, 1940, 1954, and 1980. The most recent interior renovations were undertaken from 1993 to 1999. The original

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof was replaced by an asbestos shingle roof around 1970. In 2010 it was replaced by a new slate roof. The old frame rectory was replaced by a 1½-story

concrete block A concrete block, also known as a cinder block in North American English, breeze block in British English, or concrete masonry unit (CMU), or by various other terms, is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. The u ...

structure with a Lannon stone

veneer Veneer may refer to: Materials * Masonry veneer, a thin facing layer of brick * Stone veneer, a thin facing layer of stone * Veneer (dentistry), a cosmetic treatment for teeth * Wood veneer, a thin facing layer of wood Arts and entertainment * ' ...

. It was designed by Des Moines architect Amos Emery and built by Ringland Johnson of Des Moines.

Architecture

The church building is largely rectangular in shape measuring , with a bell tower. The hexagonal structure on the north side of the main facade originally housed the baptistry. Its exterior walls are composed of Stone City limestone. Above the main entrance is a large pointed arch window flanked by two smaller pointed arch windows.

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 (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es divide the side elevations into seven

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, ci ...

. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is marked by

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows that alternate down each side elevation. Larger windows are located in the bays with wall

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

s. The bays in between have paired lancet windows. The back wall is flat, concealing the rounded

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

within. 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 a ...

ed ceiling that is supported by ten heavy hardwood hammer beams. The beams are embellished with

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture, Pagan and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with f ...

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

, and circular

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

. A large pointed arch frames the main

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

area, and it is flanked by two smaller arches that frame the side altars. The side altar on the right has a statue of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and the one the left a statue of the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

. On the apse ceiling are paintings of nine saints added during the 1954 renovation. They cover what had been windows. The columns that frame the arches are adorned with

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

in the

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

. The modified U-shaped rectory is connected toward the back of the church's west elevation by a

hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with t ...

. Its main entrance is on the west elevation facing a large yard. The stone and the steeply pitched slate roof were designed the match the church. The building provides living space for the priest in one section and office space for the parish in another.

References

External links

Parish website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Perry Religious organizations established in 1874 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1902 Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines Churches in Dallas County, Iowa Perry, Iowa Gothic Revival church buildings in Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa 1874 establishments in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Dallas County, Iowa 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States