Sacred Heart Cathedral (Dodge City, Kansas)

Historic church in Kansas, United States United States historic place


Sacred Heart Cathedral
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


Show map of KansasShow map of the United States
Location	903 Central Ave. Dodge City, Kansas
Coordinates	37°45′23″N 100°01′01″W / 37.756478°N 100.016989°W / 37.756478; -100.016989
Area	less than one acre
Built	1916
Architect	Ralph Adams Cram
Architectural style	Mission/Spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.	83000426
Added to NRHP	February 10, 1983

Sacred Heart Cathedral is the former cathedral church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City located in Dodge City, Kansas, United States. The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Early Masses in Dodge City were celebrated in the Union Church, which had been established by local businessmen and was used by various Christian denominations. Priests who celebrated mass there included the Rev. Felix Schwenberg and the Rev. Ferdinand Wolf. The first Sacred Heart Church was a frame Gothic Revival structure completed in 1882. The Rev. John Handly was given the responsibility by Bishop John Hennessy of Wichita to build a new church that could someday be used as a cathedral for a new diocese. Ralph Adams Cram designed the present church, which was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Handly had reportedly done a personal favor for Cram who repaid the favor by providing the plans for the church. Bishop Hennessy dedicated the new church on August 2, 1916.

The old church was remodeled into a school building and Sacred Heart School opened in September of the same year. As the school enrollments grew additions were made to the building in 1929, 1949, and in 1954. The present rectory was added in 1955. All the buildings in the complex were designed in the same style giving the complex a unified appearance. A new confessional was added to the church in 1949.

On May 19, 1951 Pope Pius XII established the Diocese of Dodge City and Sacred Heart Church became the cathedral. The cathedral church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. On December 9, 2001, Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Guadalupe parishes in Dodge City merged to form a new parish for the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Sacred Heart Cathedral was retained and used as part of the school facility.

Architecture

Sacred Heart Cathedral follows a basilican plan without the apse. It measures 110 by 50 feet (34 by 15 m). A Renaissance-style bell tower on the northwest corner of the building is capped with a silver dome and a cross. The exterior walls are clad in stucco. Semi-elliptical arched windows are located on the north and south walls. The overall simple appearance is broken on the main facade, which features a quatrefoil-star window above an elaborately carved entrance surround done in the Spanish Baroque style.

The interior features open trestle-work that is supported by rounded arches with rough-cast surfaces. The flooring is composed of quarry tile. The mural on the back wall was painted by Topeka artist George Melville Stone. It depicts the crucifixion and he included floral images of the desert region of the American Southwest, Native Americans, and a pinto pony. Three lunettes that are located over the doors of the vestibule depict the Good Samaritan, Good Shepherd, and the Angels at the Tomb. The stained glass windows were created by the Emil Frei Studios of St. Louis, and they were installed in 1948. A simpler altar replaced the original altar in 1967.

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ Gloria Tucker (August 5, 2016). "Sacred Heart Cathedral history explored". Dodge City Daily Globe. Dodge City, Kansas. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
^ Nora Pat Small. "Sacred Heart Cathedral". National Park Service. Retrieved 2018-05-21. with photos
"About Us". Sacred Heart School. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
"Diocese of Dodge City". Gcatholic.org. Retrieved 2014-04-12.
"Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe". Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Retrieved 2011-09-01.

External links

Media related to Sacred Heart Cathedral (Dodge City, Kansas) at Wikimedia Commons

Sacred Heart Cathedral School Web Site

v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City
Bishops	John Baptist Franz Marion Francis Forst Eugene John Gerber Stanley Girard Schlarman Ronald Michael Gilmore John Balthasar Brungardt
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe Historic Sacred Heart Cathedral, Dodge City Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Windthorst
Education	Former St. Mary of the Plains College
Catholicism portal

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia American Legation, Morocco
Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category

Categories:

Misplaced Pages