Saying Goodbye to the Old Wilson Chruch
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Saying Goodbye to the Old Wilson Chruch
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
At the beginning of 2021, when I heard the old Wilson Church in Colfax County, Nebraska was due to be demolished, I was disappointed that I never made it out to pay tribute to this beautiful old church when it first hit my radar four years before. When I visited, the Celtic cross was missing from the towering spire atop the church, already removed in preparation for the demo. Past parishioners and their families packed the parking lot and wandered the grounds saying their final goodbyes. I didn't want to intrude on these private moments and was thrilled when I found what I thought was the perfect spot from afar to capture this once beautiful church in the middle of a Nebraska cornfield.
Formally known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church or St. Mary's, it was built in 1918 to replace a church established here by Roman Catholic Czech and German immigrants in 1883. Regular services ceased in 1977 after the pastor decided it was too far to drive for this rural Wilson congregation's size located 15 miles outside of Schuyler. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, noting that the church constructed in the "Midwest vernacular Gothic Revival" style featured a rectangular, gable-roof, and wood-frame. The church made an appearance in the 1992 movie "O Pioneers!" based on the Nebraskan author Willa Cather's novel of the same name. The church was sealed up after severe damage from a tornado in 1999.
The church may be gone now, but pieces of it remain. After the tornado, St. Patrick Catholic Church in Fremont, Nebraska, incorporated the undamaged stained glass windows into a side chapel. The altar is at the Monastery of Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph in Alexandria, SD. The beautiful Celtic cross will become a memorial in the Cemetery next to where the old Wilson Church once stood.
Special Features:
Catholic Art Gallery 3.3.21
Copyright 2021 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
March 2nd, 2021
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Viewed 3,118 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/28/2024 at 4:17 PM
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