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Catholic parish of the south side · organized 1889 · 2120 South Harrison Street · active, November 2026 · not St. Patrick's of Arcola
Founding: Early in 1889 Bishop Dwenger bought property on Fairfield Avenue for a parish for the city's growing south side, and a school opened there that year. In October 1889 he appointed Father T. M. O'Leary the first pastor. The site then moved to six lots on DeWald Street between Harrison and Webster; O'Leary died with only four of the lots secured, and his successor, Father J. F. Delaney, bought the remaining two. The genealogical society's church list dates the parish from 1890, the ground-breaking year; the organization is 1889 in Blanchard's account, and both stand.
Building line: Ground was broken on 1 April 1890, Bishop Dwenger laid the cornerstone on 20 May 1890, and the church was consecrated on Sunday, 22 November 1891: a Gothic building 163 feet long and 67 wide with 94 feet of frontage and a 185-foot spire, built for about $50,000 and seating about 1,000. School buildings and a pastoral residence followed on the DeWald Street ground. The Sentinel's 1904 roster names Delaney still as pastor. The parish worships today at 2120 South Harrison Street.
A namesake kept apart: This is the city's St. Patrick's. St. Patrick's of Arcola, in Lake Township at 12305 Arcola Road, is an older rural parish — roots to 1845, established 1862, its stone church dedicated 29 October 1899 — and belongs to the county's record, as does South Bend's St. Patrick's to that city's.
Sources:
- Blanchard, History of the Catholic Church in Indiana (1898), St. Patrick's sketch, read first-hand (organization, pastors, building, consecration).
- Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, church list: city parish 1890, active, 2120 S. Harrison St.; Arcola parish 1845, active.
- Fort Wayne Sentinel, 15 October 1904 (Rev. J. F. Delaney, pastor).