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St. Michael’s Church Catholic Church-Baltimore
Sources: History of Baltimore City & County; John Thomas Scharf, 1881, J.B. Lippencott & Company, publishers, Philadelphia PA.
St. Michael’s was built in 1851 at the corner of Register and Pratt Streets for the German Catholic population of that area. The cornerstone was laid on October 30, 1850 and the building completed in 1852. It was blessed by the Very Rev. Bernard Hafkenscheid, provincial of the Redemptorists and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The swell of immigration at the time made it necessary to construct a new church within a few years. The old cemetery of St. Patrick’s (Wolfe Street) was purchased and the bodies removed to Holy Cross Cemetery on Harford Road. The cornerstone of the new building was laid on August 2, 1857. The building was completed in 1859. The dimensions of the new church are 187 feet by 80 feet. The new church was bounded by Baltimore, Lombard, Chapel and Wolfe Sts. A residence was established at the same time and Rev. Joseph Clauss resided there, being the first superior. He was succeeded in 1865 by Rev. William Luehrmann and in 1868 Rev. Joseph Wirth was appointed rector.
As early as 1845 a school was established. At the time the first church was erected, there were 300 pupils. When the new church was built, a new school building was also erected on Lombard Street. The average attendance at that time was 1300. The school is ran by the Sisters of Notre Dame and the Marian Brothers, the SSNDs taking charge of the school in 1870.
St. Michaels’ celebrated it’s 75th Anniversary on April 24, 1927.
On a photo journey (July 4, 2010) we were unable to find the church. The corner of Register and Pratt Streets is two corners residential, one corner the parking lot for Obrycki’s Crab House and the other corner is Obrycki’s Crab House.
We visited St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church at the corner of Wolfe Street and Lombard Street.
Priests serving St. Michael’s
1852-1855 Thaddeus Anwander 1855- Aegidius Smulders 1855-1859 Joseph Müller 1859-1865 Joseph Clauss 1865-1871 William Lührmann 1871-1873 Maximus Leimgruber 1873-1877 Peter Zimmer 1877-1880 Joseph Helmprächt 1880-1882 Joseph Clauss 1882-1886 Franz Van Emstede 1886-1893 Peter Bausch 1893-1894 Joseph Wirth 1894-1898 Peter Grein 1898-1901 John B. Leibfritz 1901-1904 Ferdinand Litz 1904-1909 John Klang 1909-1912 Charles Sigl 1912-1918 Joseph Wissel 1918-1921 Henry Otterbein 1921-1924 Peter Backe 1924- Joseph Schmidt
Church Location: Corner of Wolfe & Lombard Streets |
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St. Michael's Catholic Church |