P
patwolford
Guest
I thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread. It seems like in the years before VII, there were lots of interesting, beautiful churches, many of them being in small towns. I found some old pictures at my Grandma’s house, and thought it would be neat to compare them to the church’s present day layout. Without further ado, I present the former St. Francis Church, now part of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Sometime in the 50’s. The original church burnt down in 1936, and was rebuilt in 1937 or so.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Shortly after VII.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Present day. The church was ‘renovated’ in 1982, and the lower altar was put onto a platform that was the same level as the high altar, and the whole sanctuary was covered with tan carpet. Also, behind the High Altar, there is a large window that is there (the church was built before air conditioning), and I believe that was what saved the Altar from being ripped out. The floor was restored about three years ago. There was talk about the amazing mural being restored too, but those plans fell through. Around this time, they also ripped out the nice tilework designs in the aisle of the church, and painted over the colorful tilework that adorned the back of the church with white paint.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
You can see some of the nice woodworking on the High Altar in this one.
I think that churches like these, in small towns, are all very special. Most of them were built by the parishioners themselves, and when St. Francis burnt down, the entire town turned out to help rebuilt it. My grandma told me that when she was young, she could remember digging through the rubble after the fire and cleaning bricks to be used when they rebuilt the church. The mural and gold leaf was done by an Italian artist, and sometime in the 60’s, it needed touched up. The priest at the time tracked down his apprentice since the original artist had long since died, and he came to the church and touched up and cleaned the mural and gold leaf. Only to be painted over in 1982. Ugh.
Your turn.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Sometime in the 50’s. The original church burnt down in 1936, and was rebuilt in 1937 or so.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Shortly after VII.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Present day. The church was ‘renovated’ in 1982, and the lower altar was put onto a platform that was the same level as the high altar, and the whole sanctuary was covered with tan carpet. Also, behind the High Altar, there is a large window that is there (the church was built before air conditioning), and I believe that was what saved the Altar from being ripped out. The floor was restored about three years ago. There was talk about the amazing mural being restored too, but those plans fell through. Around this time, they also ripped out the nice tilework designs in the aisle of the church, and painted over the colorful tilework that adorned the back of the church with white paint.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
You can see some of the nice woodworking on the High Altar in this one.
I think that churches like these, in small towns, are all very special. Most of them were built by the parishioners themselves, and when St. Francis burnt down, the entire town turned out to help rebuilt it. My grandma told me that when she was young, she could remember digging through the rubble after the fire and cleaning bricks to be used when they rebuilt the church. The mural and gold leaf was done by an Italian artist, and sometime in the 60’s, it needed touched up. The priest at the time tracked down his apprentice since the original artist had long since died, and he came to the church and touched up and cleaned the mural and gold leaf. Only to be painted over in 1982. Ugh.
Your turn.
