St. Francis-St. James - Parish History

Our History...Parish History

1820-1890...

1820	Fort Snelling established.
1840	Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant settles in area of future St. Paul.
1841	Fr. Lucien Galtier blesses the chapel of St. Paul. Grateful residents prefer to call the settlement St. Paul rather than Pig’s Eye.
1849	Territory of Minnesota established with St. Paul as capitol.
1850	Total population of Minnesota territory – 6,077.
1850	Diocese of St. Paul established. Joseph Cretin is named first bishop.
1857	Total population of Minnesota territory – 150,000.
1858	Minnesota becomes a state.
1860	St. Paul makes chart of top 100 cities in the U.S., 89th, with population of 10,401. Minneapolis hovers around 3,000. Two Catholic churches in St. Paul (Cathedral, Assumption) and two in Minneapolis (St. Anthony, St. Boniface).
1870	St. Paul has grown to 20,030 (71st largest city in U.S.) and Minneapolis to 13,000. St. Paul had three more parishes (St. Mary, St. Louis, St. Michael) and Minneapolis two more (St. Mary, St. Joseph).
1880	St. Paul climbs to 45th largest city in U.S. with population of 41,473 with addition of St. Stanislaus, St. Joseph and St. Adalbert. Minneapolis passes the See city, becoming the 38th largest city in our country at 46,887.
1883	St. Francis de Sales founded for German settlers west of downtown, 11th Catholic parish in St. Paul (7 parishes in Minneapolis and 138 out-state). Fr. John Stariha is the first pastor.
1884	St. Francis de Sales church is dedicated, August 31. It is a wood frame building with the central area 100 feet long and 50 feet wide. It is constructed at a cost of $13,000 on land donated by Frank Poppler, a German stonemason who lived on Cliff Street.
1884	St. Francis School opens September 9th with 134 students. The three teachers, School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) from Milwaukee, live in the school until a convent is completed in 1886.
1887	St. James established for settlers west of downtown St. Paul, particularly the Irish, along Fort Road all the way to Fort Snelling. It is the 14th parish in St. Paul (10 parishes in Minneapolis and 150 out-state). Initial boundaries are Western Avenue on the east, Grand Avenue on the north, and the Mississippi River on the west and south. Fr. John Conway is the first pastor.
1888	St. Paul becomes an archdiocese. The next year (1889) five new dioceses (Sioux Falls, St. Cloud, Duluth, Fargo, and Winona) are established within the territory formerly within the territory of the Diocese of St. Paul.
1888	first Mass said in St. James, August 28. First parish fair nets $2,500 (the equivalent of $47,000 in 2003 dollars).
1889	Six classrooms added to St. Francis School.
1889	Fr. Conway leaves St. James to become editor of the Northwest Chronicle, forerunner of the Catholic Spirit. His immediate successors are Fr. James Fitzpatrick (1889-1898) and Fr. William Colbert (1898-1901).
1890	St. Paul is now the 23rd largest city in the country with a population of 133,156. As for Minneapolis…well, our neighboring city had grown to 164,738.
1890	The “St. Francis German Casino”, the oldest existing Catholic men’s group in the archdiocese, is founded to encourage men in their faith and to support the work of the parish…two goals today’s Casinos continue with strength. “Casino”, by the way, doesn’t refer to gambling but to a gathering for men.