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Cherokee County Churches


Maryhill Visitation Catholic Church
Church History

The history of the parish dates back to the late 1860’s when immigrant families settled in the area to begin their life in the United States and Iowa. The Maryhill area had been served as a mission by various area priests starting in 1871. The first mass on the site, which would become the country parish of the Visitation, was in 1871. The first resident priest, Fr. Henry Eckert,  ame to Maryhill, in 1895. The parish celebrated its centennial in 1995.

 The church was first built in 1882. Soon after, lightning struck it, burning the building to the ground. The current structure was built in 1905.  The stained glass windows alone were valued at $320,000.

Maryhill has served the spiritual needs of Catholics in rural Cherokee County for over a century. One of the hallmarks of the parish was always the church picnic, which began in 1918.

Maryhill Visitation Catholic Church had stood for just over a century, when high winds totally destroyed it in 2006.


Image courtesy of
 Robert L. Grupp

Winds Destroy Maryhill Church

High winds caused extensive damage in Northwest Iowa Tuesday evening, including the destruction of the 101 year old Maryhill Visitation Church. No serious injuries were reported in the storm that the National Weather Service described as having winds of between 60 to 90 mph but which generated no tornadoes.

Rev. Gene Sitzmann, pastor of the church, reportedly sought shelter in the basement of a house net to the wood frame church and subsequently emerged uninjured to find the church in ruins.

A determination on the future of the parish will be made consistent with diocesan guidelines. In the interim, parishioners will worship at Immaculate Conception Church in Cherokee or St. John Church in Quimby. (Source: Excerpts from Chronicle Times, Cherokee, IA, Thursday, 3 Aug 2006, pg. 1& 3; By staff and AP reports)

"Among the Maryhill Church rubble,

hanging between the collapsed roof and the rubble of the church contents,

was the off-white sculpture of the Last Supper, which will be salvaged."

"Peaking between the rubble many sightseers could see many mementos

of their church whether is was the Bible laying open used at every worship service,

parts of benches, altar cloths and banners and some depictions of the life of Christ."

Wedding Moved
The wedding between Rachel Corzilius and Chris Ruskamp originally scheduled for Saturday at the Maryhill Church at 4 p.m. will take place at the same day and time at the Immaculate Conception Church in Cherokee.

Chronicle Times, Cherokee, IA, Friday, 4 Aug 2006, pg. 2

Other sources: Chronicle Times, Cherokee, IA, Friday, 4 Aug 2006, pg. 8; The Chronicle, Cherokee, IA, Thursday, 5 Jan 1995, pg. 2


Below are pictures of the damages, taken by Cherokee County residents Don Blake and Kris (Watts) Witcombe 

Bitten By a Dog
Rev. J. W. Warzawa, pastor of Maryhill Catholic church west of Cherokee, was severely bitten by a dog on Saturday. Chas. Bellman was doing some plastering at the church and found that he was short on stucco. Rev. Warzawa had learned that Fred Bauer, who lives near the church, was coming to the city and he went over to ask him to take out a couple of sacks. But the family had already gone and there
was nobody at the house. The dog had been left on watch and when Rev. Warzawa approached the animal made a leap at him and caught his arm between the elbow and shoulder. He managed to shake the dog off and got away but there were holes through his clothing and his arm was badly lacerated and bled profusely.
Source: The Courier, Waterloo, IA, 10 Jul 1906, Tue, pg. 5

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