Saints Mary & Martha Catholic Church

Saints Mary and Martha Catholic Church. . In 1844-1846 immigrants - mostly Irish - built Saints Mary and Martha Church on this corner. It was the first Catholic church in Lafayette. Many of the parishioners had come to the area to dig the Wabash and Erie Canal. The $10,000 brick building measured 40 by 100 feet and featured a Greek Revival facade fronting Fifth Street. With its cupola and Gothic Revival windows, it was an imposing and handsome church. , In 1850 Lafayette's first Catholic school was built on the rear of the church. In 1853 German-speaking families left to establish St. Boniface Church. The remaining congregation outgrew the Fifth Street building and in 1866 it moved to a new building on Columbia Street, the Church of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception. , The former Saints Mary and Martha building was used as a parish hall. In the 1880s it became a public assembly hall first called St. Joseph's Hall, then Columbian Hall. The structure later was used for automotive repair, welding and as a machine shop. It was razed in 1953. , In 2015 a Centennial Townhome was built atop the church foundation. This historic marker is partially made of stones from that foundation. , [Captions] , . Above: Photograph of Saints Mary and Martha Church just before demolition in 1953. , . Right: Artist's rendering of Saints Mary and Martha Church as it likely appeared when completed in 1846.