THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH organized in 1859 and since they at once built a small church building it was the first one erected in El Paso. However, the membership did not increase and the organization disbanded. The building passed to the Evangelical United Brethern group in 1872.

GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERANS were holding community worship in a schoolhouse in and near Kappa in the late 1850's under the leadership of Philip Pfleeger, Sr. Pastors from Bloomington usually did the preaching. About 1860 the group came to El Paso and during the next three years held services at Strathman's or Crawford's Hall, or in the west side schoolhouse. On May 8, 1863 the congregation was organized with fourteen men serving as voting members, naming it St. Paul's.

Joseph Mueller of Peoria built their frame church at the southwest corner of Third and Central in 1864 at a cost of $1,480. In 1875 the building was remodeled by James McAlden at a cost of $1,300. A parsonage had been purchased in October, 1871 for $475, and an addition built in 1882 cost $700 more. However, this included a schoolroom at the parsonage which provided for thirty-five pupils. The congregation slowly dwindled through death and removal until it was finally without a resident minister. C. G. Schroeder then often supplied the pulpit.

The church fell into disuse and a bad state of repair, so the remaining trustees sold the old church to C. H. McGarvey in 1945, who in turn sold it to Wallace Cullen of Pontiac, who began dismantling it February 4, 1946. Two new homes were built on the site by Gayle Andrews and Wallace Cullen, today owned and occupied by Leo Render and James McWilliams.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was organized in 1863 as the parish of St. Mary's by the Reverend Patrick Terry of St. Columbia's of Ottawa. His assistant, the Reverend Patrick Toner, had been a curate at Bloomington before going to Ottawa, and he baptized twelve persons in El Paso between September and December of 1863, including Lot Sullivan, Jeremiah Sheehan and Frederick Mossbach.

The Reverend Francis Keenan came to El Paso in November, 1864 and soon thereafter began building a frame church at the corner of Central and West Third, completed in 1865. Wings were added to the building in 1872 which increased its seating capacity to about 500. The church was frescoed and new furnishings added by the Reverend Thomas S. Keating in 1874-80 bringing the total cost to $4,500. A house belonging to a Mr. McAlden was moved to the site of the present church and converted into a parochial school during Reverend Keating's service, and he taught classes there and in outlying parts of his parish, which included Minonk until 1878.

The Reverend Jeremiah H. Quinlan was pastor of St. Mary's from 1894 to August, 1918, except for a few months in 1904 when the Rever-

Page 195

Go to previous page

Go to next page

Go to El Paso Story gateway page