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Saint Bernard Catholic Church started in 1849 when Father Joseph
Kundeck of Jasper, IN visited Rockport and found four Catholic
families: the John Kerstien family, the Joseph Bresslar
family, the Bernard H. Walters family, and the William Klueh
family. Arrangements were made for Mass once a month at
the Kerstiens home, mostly by Benedictine priests of St.
Meinrad, while Father Michael Marendt is said to have walked
from Cannelton, IN to Rockport on several occasions.
By 1850, Catholic families numbered 12 and a plot of ground on
6th and Elm Streets was donated by General Williamson, a
non-Catholic, for the use of the small congregation. On
June 6, 1850, the laying of a corner stone marked the start of
the first small brick church facing 6th Street. Mr.
Bernard H. Walters underwrote the cost of the new church
($687.00) and thus the church was named Saint Bernard.
Among the visiting priests attending the little congregation,
Father B.H. Kentrest came quite regularly from 1867-1874.
Even on Sundays when there was no Mass, the faithful gathered
and prayed and established religion classes for their children.
Father John William Book moved to Rockport in January of 1874
and took charge of the parish which grew quickly. A corner
stone for a new brick church was laid on May 18, 1875 and was
dedicated on June 25, 1876. The old church building was
then transformed into a school, conducted by the Benedictine
Sisters of Ferdinand, who also started an academy boarding
school in 1877. The academy, on "Bosler Hill" was
discontinued in 1892. Along with the construction of the
new church, a small two-room rectory was built for the resident
pastor just east of the newly erected church.
With the closing of the Academy on "Bosler Hill" in 1892, a
convent for the teaching nuns was built on the corner of 6th and
Elm Streets under the tutelage of Father John Hillebrand, a
residence from 1891-1897.
Father Francis X. Schaub was appointed pastor of Saint Bernard
in 1911, and also administrator of the mission of Saint Martin's
in Chrisney, IN. With the expansion of the rectory under
Father Schaub, children from rural areas and from Kentucky were
boarded at the priest's house and the convent from 1912-1915,
which resulted in over 60 students in the old brick church
turned school.
Disaster struck the parish on News Year's morning in 1917, when
a destructive fire consumed the interior of the church.
Candles illuminating the Christmas crib were blamed for the fire
which left only the walls standing. A temporary chapel
erected on the east side of the burnt-out church was found to be
inadequate for worship, and by the kindness of the German
Evangelical congregation on 5th Street, their church became the
temporary house of worship for the parish of Saint Bernard.
Early in the spring of 1917, plans were made for another church,
with the walls of the original church being utilized, while the
interior was changed from Romanesque to Gothic architectural
style. The timber for the rebuilt church was supplied by
Sebastian Lehr.
At the same time, Father Schaub acquired the property and
building north of the original church building and remodeled it
into a school room for grades 1-5 downstairs with a bowling
alley above. This, along with the original
church-turned-school, served the educational needs of the parish
until 1925. With the guidance of Father Andrew Bastnagel,
a frame addition was made to the old brick church-school
resulting that all the school children were again housed under
one roof.
A new development in the educational endeavors of the parish was
begun in March of 1949, when under the direction of Father
Joseph Brown, construction was begun on a new brick school, the
present part of the school paralleling Pearl Street. With
much labor being donated by the men of the parish, the new
building which would house a kitchen, gym-auditorium, and two
classrooms was ready for occupancy by 105 students and three
teachers in the fall of 1949.
With increasing enrollment in the 1950's, plans were made for
further expansion of the school facilities. In May, 1960,
the last remaining section of the old brick school was razed.
In the fall of 1961, under the direction of Father Michael O.J.
Wolf, a new eight-classroom addition welcomed 202 students with
five teachers.
Since that time the parish has continued a gradual growth in
size and members, while growing greatly in grace and wisdom
under the guidance of God's Holy Spirit. Deo Gratas. |
