OP in 1840.[3] At that time there were about 100 Catholics in the area. Three years later there were 600 Catholics, and the parish supported a school.[4] The first church building was a log structure, which was built by parishioners. Bishop Mathias Loras contributed $600 from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith towards its construction.[3]
Six other parishes were created from St. Patrick's. St. Mathias in Cascade, which at one time had been divided into the two parishes of St. Martin's and St. Mary's; St. Joseph's in Bellevue; St. Peter's in Temple Hill; Assumption in Sylvia Switch; St. Aloysius in South Garryowen, and Sacred Heart in Fillmore. St. Patrick's is the second oldest parish and it has the oldest church building in the Dubuque Archdiocese, and it is the oldest Catholic rural parish in Iowa.[4]
Architecture
The present church was built in 1854, minus the tower. It was completed about 1875. Master builder J. Boland is credited with designing the church. The person who designed the tower is unknown, but it is similar in design to
facade.[4] The tower is capped by an octagon-shaped belfry, also of stone, and a spire. The structure is six bays
long, and there is a Gothic arched window in each bay. The main facade provides a symmetrical arraignment of three bays with an entrance portal in each bay.
