St. Peter Alcantara Catholic Church began in 1873 when the first building was erected and a picnic was used to raise funds for the development. During the annual picnic Saturday, current members celebrated the church’s history and the role it has played in the community.
Monica Rice, a third-generation churchgoer, reflected on the history of the church.
“St. Peter’s Church is more than the three buildings that have housed the congregation since 1873. The church is the people,” Rice said. “My grandparents were members, my parents, me, and now my children. And other current families at St. Peter’s go back with even more generations of members. St. Peter’s is family, friends, community, service, and praise and worship.”
The church eventually grow large enough that it purchased land for the Stanley Home, named after Nat Stanley. The Stanley Home was used for building a brick church and a parochial school. To raise funds for the new building, the church held another picnic which they called “bigger, better, finer than ever.”
According to Rice, the train that rain through the county had a special run in the morning and the evening, offering half-fare rates on every stop between Cloverport and Henderson. Nearly 200 Owensboro residents took the noon train, and more than 3,000 people attended the picnic.
With the money raised, St. Peter was able to dedicate the school, which served as the temporary church while while the brick building was being constructed. Work began on that brick building — which the church still operates out of today — in 1922, but progress was slow and difficult due to financial depression.
Rice said that the church members — many of which were farmers — came together to raise funds over the years. The new church was finally finished after about 7 years and was dedicated on June 18, 1929.
According to a news article Rice found from the time, the church was described as “probably the most elaborate rural church in this section of Kentucky.”
Over the next few decades a school was built next to church, but it closed in 1984 after 32 years of operation. The alter was renovated in 1972.
The church is still going strong today, and its members remain proud of its history and how importance it has been for the community.
“Fr. Bruce Fogle said in 2018, ‘That’s the beauty of being from Stanley. Stanley has a lot of faith and a lot of family.’ I pulled out my phone and put it in my notes,” Rice said. “It defines where I come from. It brings pride to my heart. And I know that St. Peter’s Church is essential to that faith and family of Stanley.”
