From the March 31, 1920 Sandusky Star-Journal:
This picture shows the ruins of Immaculate Conception Catholic church at Raab's Corners, northeast of Swanton, and about two miles from the home of the mother of T. H. Dilgart, Sandusky merchant, who was at his mother's home when the cyclone struck Sunday evening.
It shows the main altar standing. Several light pieces of statuary also were not disturbed by the wind. The church was of brick, and the damage is estimated at $60,000 by the pastor, the Rev. Charles Renck. Damage to the parish house, nearby, is estimated at $6,000, while the parochial school loss is $8,000. Four sisters of the Notre Dame order narrowly escaped injury or death, and are now .sheltered at the home of a farmer nearby.
“I suppose it would remind one of the ruins of Rheims or some cathedral in the war-stricken district in France,” said Mr. Dilgart, who viewed the wrecked church. “The church was about the size of St. Peter and Paul’s church in Sandusky. Its destruction gives some idea of the great force of the cyclone.”
(The area was later known as Marygrove, and is now part of Holy Trinity parish, Assumption.)
More pictures at Toledo / Lucas County Library site:
HERE and
HERE
I'm very close to concluding that the three altarpieces at St. Aloysius are the best examples of 20th century woodcarving in any parish church in the diocese. They're exceptional work, and were, apparently, carved at Oberammergau.
Photos of the St. Joseph altar, by Allan Dieball
There's just one thing I can say. Would someone please tell me this was taken while they were repainting?
Photos from a Shrine booklet, probably from the late 1950s (I'm guessing).
Where I was raised, we didn't have many tornadoes, but floods were a different matter. This was the Church of St. John Gaulbert, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after the 1889 flood. It was one of the oddities of the flood. A house was washed up against one of the walls. A stove in the house started a fire, which resulted in the church being under water almost to roof level while the roof and tower were on fire. At least 2,200 people died that day.
The inscription reads: "the Lord is in His Holy Temple. Let all keep silent before Him."
Sometimes I see something that really makes my blood boil. This is the sanctuary floor at St. Aloysius. That's some of the best tile work in the diocese.
Unfortunately, that's not just carpet. When, in the 70's, the sanctuary was changed, doubtless by people who blamed Vatican II for their own destructiveness, a concrete platform was poured directly over the tile. Vatican II never suggested anything quite like that.
In the 80's common sense returned, along with the crucifix, which was brought back from exile in the choir loft. At that time, an attempt was made to uncover the tile. They found out that removing a concrete platform stuck like glue to a work of art is close to impossible.
By the way, the same morons hacked out the tile from the aisles to install carpet.
Magnificent.
I was going to give my opinion of the interior, but I've been given some details of what was done to the place back in the 70's, when there was a concerted effort, all over the country, to destroy every vestige of Catholic identity. I want to mull it over, along with the good repair jobs that have been done since, before commenting. That, and I have to get my blood pressure under control after learning what the numbskulls of the 70's did to a beautiful tile floor.
The Letourneau organ. You'll find all the details HERE..png)
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