Historical Images of Porter County

Catholic Church, Kouts, Ind.
Kouts, Indiana

Date: 1908
Source Type: Postcard
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Unknown
Postmark: July 16, 1908, Kouts, Indiana
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: The seeds for the construction of the original St. Mary's Catholic Church, seen here, were planted in 1883 at meeting of local Catholics that raised about $700. A picnic to raise funds for the construction of the church was held on July 24, 1884. Father O'Reilly, from Valparaiso, then purchased the church lots (Lots 3 and 4 in Block 2 of the Wright's Addition) from Hillary A. Wright in September 1885. The church was constructed so that the building could easily be converted into a parochial school house should the congregation grow to significant size. This church was completely destroyed by a tornado on May 26, 1917, and the congregation soon rebuilt an "underground church" or "basement church." During the rebuilding, a church rectory was built in the adjacent lot. In 1926, the present church was constructed over the old basement church.

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Image and related text prepared by Steven R. Shook