Sandusky Churches, 1930

A page of photos from a "Scenic Guide to Ohio Lake Erie Island District", printed in 1930.  Click on the image to see larger.

Ss. Peter and Paul, Sandusky

The church is a Patrick Keely design.

Historical Marker at Holy Angels, Sandusky

A historical marker has been placed at Holy Angels church in Sandusky, telling the story of the oldest church structure in the Toledo Diocese.  The William G. Pomeroy Foundation provided funding.  Read more in the Sandusky Register HERE.

Historic Photos from Sandusky

The Sandusky Library has launched a local history archive, "Past Perfect," with many photos online.  If you do a keyword search for "Catholic", you'll see photos from the area parishes.  Or hit the "Random Images" button if you want to kill a few hours...  Click HERE.

Fr. William F. Murphy, Sandusky

Over at the Sandusky History blog, you can read about Fr. William F. Murphy, pastor of Ss. Peter & Paul parish from 1905 - 1942.  One noteworthy event was the marriage of Knute Rockne to Bonnie Skiles, pictured above.  For full article, click HERE.

Window of Inspiration

A grieving father is leading an effort to restore a stained glass window of Jesus in Gethsemane at historic Holy Angels church in Sandusky.  See the story in the Sandusky Register HERE.

St. Mary, Sandusky

A photo gallery of Christmas Eve mass, courtesy of the Sandusky Register.  Click HERE.

Holy Angels, Sandusky

Holy Angels church in Sandusky, the oldest of the three parishes in that city.  Read more about its history in previous posts -- click HERE.

Moving Limestone from Sandusky to Cleveland

From the website of St. Patrick's on Bridge Ave. in Cleveland:

"In the fall of 1870, ground was broken and the corner stone was set in place on August 21, 1871. A friend of the parish who owned a quarry in Sandusky offered the stone to the community if they could cut it and haul it to Cleveland themselves. Parishioners were divided into teams. One group would leave after Mass on Sunday, staying overnight at an inn in Lorain. They would continue to Sandusky, quarrying stone till the weekend. Saturday morning they would return to the parish and unload the wagon. Meanwhile, another group would cut and place the stone. The trips to Sandusky were repeated weekly for a two year period. The church was occupied on May 1, 1873. The stone tower was completed in 1903."

The church looks more than a little like Ss. Peter & Paul in Sandusky -- perhaps the Sandusky church, built in the 1860s, was an influence on the design.

Sandusky: A Patrick Keely Design

Over at the Sandusky History blog, we learn that Ss. Peter & Paul church was designed by the noted Irish-American architect Patrick Keely.  See post HERE.

Edward Furey of the Keely Society notes:

We don't know for sure, if Keely visited Sandusky, or simply sent plans requested by the pastor. In some cases, we do know, from letters, that Keely would send plans, and then a local building superintendent would follow and adapt them. In that way costs for construction could be kept down for pastors who wanted an impressive structure. We do know Keely was in Cleveland, while that cathedral (radically altered,) was being constructed.

 

Keely also designed Toledo's St. Francis de Sales chapel.

Stained Glass at Providence Hospital, Sandusky

 

For some time, I've wanted to see the stained glass windows at the former Providence Hospital in Sandusky, now the south campus of Firelands Medical Center.  They are the work of Cleveland artist Frank Marchione, and are some of the most beautiful modern stained glass I've seen.  They were designed in the early 1960s.  More about Marchione HERE.

St. Frances Cabrini.

 St. Francis of Assisi.

 St. Anthony of Padua

 St. Jude

St. Therese of Liseux

 

 St. Anne with Mary as a child.

Light passing through the St. Michael window illuminates the brick wall.  There is also a St. Raphael window (the chapel was named for him), but the photo did not turn out.

Here you can see the full size of the windows -- they are nearly two floors tall.  The room is now a conference / education center instead of a chapel.

Knights of St. John

An interesting post about the Knights of St. John convention in Sandusky in 1910, over at the Sandusky History blog -- click HERE.

Ss. Peter & Paul, Sandusky

Uncertain of date, sometime in early 1900s.  You can see recent photos of the interior HERE.

Catholic Reading Circles, 1903 - 1904

A movement of Catholic reading circles and summer schools grew in the late 1800s and early 1900s, similar to the Chautauqua movement. The Champlain Educator / Mosher's Magazine served as a national publication, and groups in Findlay and Sandusky were listed in its directory:

 

You can read more about the history of the national Catholic Summer School HERE.

Fr. Molon Writes a Letter, 1862

Apparently the letter worked, as Fr. R.A. Sidley acted as a chaplain at Johnson's Island -- click HERE.

Fr. Molon's letter was found in "The War of the Rebellion:  Correspondence, orders, reports and returns, Union and Confederate, relating to prisoners of war and to state or political prisoners" at Google Books.

A photo of Fr. Molon from a St. Mary Tiffin parish history.  He was born in Arras, France, in 1826, and served in parishes throughout northern Ohio until his death in 1880.

SS Peter & Paul, Sandusky

Across the street from Ss. Peter and Paul is the impressive Zion Lutheran Church.

St. Mary, Sandusky

From Sandusky Bay . . .

Over at the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay blog, some good history links:

You can read a copy of a 1922 Parish Quarterly from Sandusky St. Mary's parish HERE.

The story of Nicholas Charles Cross from Sandusky's Holy Angels parish, who joined the Xaverian Brothers, can be found HERE.

Providence Hospital, Sandusky

Above is an image of St. Raphael in stained glass, from 1962 when the St. Raphael chapel was being built in Sandusky's Providence Hospital. The stained glass was the work of Cleveland artist Frank Marchione. In 2001, Providence became part of Firelands Regional Medical Center. The chapel is now used as an education center, but the stained glass remains.

A photo of the chapel while still in use.

See an example of Frank Marchione's sculpture HERE.

More Providence Hospital history HERE.

SS Peter & Paul, Sandusky