Monday, April 21, 2014

Cornerstone of St. Mary’s School Set in Place in 1909


On April 25, 1909, thousands of people attended the ceremony of the setting of the cornerstone for St. Mary’s School. The school was a three-story structure which included as basement and a large auditorium. The architect for the project was H.C. Millott, and the school was constructed by George Feick and Company. Bishop J.M. Koudelka came to Sandusky to dedicate the cornerstone as it was laid in place. St. Mary’s priest, Father J.S. Widmann was directly behind the group of men carrying the cornerstone in the picture above. As the cornerstone was set into place, the choir from St. Mary’s Catholic Church sang a musical selection.


Councilmen from St. Mary’s each tapped the new cornerstone with a mawl. The councilmen were: Dr. J.H. Herman, Edward Erney, Charles Westerhold, and Martin Ehner. After them, Father Widmann gave words of thanks on behalf of himself and the entire congregation.


Father Patrick O’Brien, from Toledo, gave an oration, but he had to cut it short due to threatening weather. Though rain fell, the audience gave Father O’Brien their complete attention. Ackley’s Band played as the people assembled sang a Catholic hymn at the conclusion of the ceremony. Articles about the cornerstone laying ceremony appeared in the April 25 and April 26, 1909 issues of the Sandusky Register. St. Mary’s School was dedicated on June 19, 1910.



Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to read more about the history of churches in Sandusky.
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1 comment:

  1. Ed DanielMonday, April 21, 2014 at 8:29:00 PM EDT

    What a pleasant surprise, to read the article about the cornerstone laying of the school that I attended from 1942 to 1954. My father, Cyril Daniel, then only 14 years old, is in one or more of these photos. His uncle, Edward Erney, was one of the parish dignitaries at the ceremony. A few years after these photos were taken, my dad, at 15 or 16, assisted in the task of dismantling the original (1880)St. Mary's Church, the stone structure which appears at the right edge of the first photo. For many years, our family had a piece of the wooden cross that topped the steeple of the old church. My dad kept it a souvenir of the old church. Sad to say, that relic disappeared many years ago.

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