It was early in 1911 when a group of devout Catholics held a meeting in the home of Frank Broxterman, northeast of Baileyville. This meeting would be the beginning of the new Sacred Heart Parish that would be established in March of 1912, in the little town of Baileyville. The idea of a Catholic parish and the construction of a church, was overwhelmingly approved and a committee was formed to obtain the signatures of the fifty or so Catholic families that were living in the area. This petition was presented to Bishop Thomas F. Lillis of the Leavenworth diocese. Bishop Lillis favored the idea, and suggested that the group should construct a building that would serve as a combined school and church.
On March 10, 1912, Father Joseph Hohe came to this little prairie town to say the first Holy Mass at the still standing Marion Hall. It was at around this time that construction on the first church began. A building measuring 50' x 75', was built using brick, with asbestos shingles for the roof. Total construction cost was $16,000. The building was completed and dedication was held on October 22, 1912.
This building would see a lot of activity in the years to come. It would be used for Sunday Mass as well as the weekly school classes. It also played host to many picnics, dinner, plays and dances. This building is still used and has been refurbished over the years to hold junior high classes. In 1913, a beautiful rectory was built. This building would later house the Benedictine nuns who taught in the school.
Over the course of the next several years, the church was no longer big enough for all of its uses, and in September of 1924, the parish began the excavation for the new 72' x 140' church. The people of the parish provided many hours of volunteer labor on the project. It was covered with a temporary roof with the hope of completing the building within five years. This structure was called the "basement church."
Father Arthur J. Trompeter was assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in June of 1949. He set out to oversee the construction of a new church at the site of the 25-year old basement church. This church, completed in 1952, is of modem gothic design and constructed of concrete, stone and steel. The church is 147' long and 63' wide and bears a buff brick exterior trimmed with strip and cut variegated Indiana limestone. The communion rail, side altar, baptismal font and holy water fonts are all made of Red Levanto and Rose Travemello Italian marble. The entire main floor is made of Mar-flex terazzo poured over concrete. The first Mass in this church was celebrated on January 27, 1954.
The present day Sacred Heart Church parish continues to be a strong unified force. The parish consists of around 200 families, willing and generous in giving their time and talents. The focus of the parish has changed to maintaining and improving the gifts that have been so generously received from the hard work and dedication of parishioners in the past. Numerous updates and changes over the last half century have created a home that provides us spiritual shelter from the ever-changing world.
The recent centennial celebration of the Parish was an opportunity to reflect on the fortitude of its founders. It was because of their love of the Catholic Church and their desire to have a faith-based community that today we have a vibrant Church with over 200 families. The same spirit of faith and love which guided the early days of the parish, continues to manifest as current parishioners join together as one unified force, to worship, to celebrate our faith, and most importantly to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through the generous giving of their time, talents and treasures.
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