Interior of St. Patrick's Church, 1880. As the church outgrew this chapel, it was moved to another part of the church grounds and used as a hall.

St. Patrick's Church, 1892
Historians of St. Patrick's believe the person on the right is Father Hayes.

Interior view of St. Patrick's Catholic Church 1892.

Altar of St. Patrick's Church, built in 1892. It was destroyed by fire February 10, 1915. The life-size crucifix, to the right of the altar, came directly to Imogene from the Chicago World's Fair.

What is left of St. Patrick's Church after the fire of February, 1915

Dedication of St. Patrick's Academy, Imogene, Iowa.

Interior of St. Patrick's current church. Picture was taken after March 20, 1919 when the altars were completed and before the Stations of the Cross were hung, about a year later. From written newspaper accounts, it took an Italian artist two years to assemble the altars (along with helpers) and a year to assemble the mosaic Stations.

Aerial view of the grounds, 1915 Church.

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An aerial view of the current St. Patrick Church at Imogene. The small amount of brick building shown in the left corner, of the picture, was the Convent. At one time seven Dominican Sisters, lived there and taught, at St. Patrick Academy. Today it is the CCD Center, where religious instruction is provided, every Sunday September through May, for the youth of the parish Preschool through Grade 12.

The roof of the white house seen directly above that of the church was the former Rectory, which was built in 1904. The roof caught fire when the second church was destroyed by fire. It took the efforts of many to save it. The grassy area behind the church is where St. Patrick Academy was located. It opened in September of 1907 and was staffed by the Mercy Sisters until 1918. It closed until 1920. Then the Dominican Sisters ran the school until 1969 when it closed. The building was torn down in November 1972.

Source: Submitted by Margaret Laughlin