St. Mary's Church (Beaverville, Illinois) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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St. Mary's Church
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St. Mary's Church, Beaverville, IL
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | 308 St. Charles Avenue Beaverville, Illinois |
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| Area | 15 acres (6.1 ha) |
| Built | 1911 |
| Architect | Joseph Molitor |
| Architectural style | Romanesque, Renaissance |
| NRHP reference No. | 96000514 |
| Added to NRHP | May 2, 1996 |
St. Mary's Catholic Church is a beautiful and historic building in Beaverville, Illinois. People sometimes call it the "Prairie Cathedral" or the "Cathedral of the Cornfields." This Roman Catholic church was built between 1909 and 1911. It has two tall towers and a special dome roof. St. Mary's is the tallest and most famous building in Beaverville. In 1996, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's a very important historical site.
Contents
Discovering the Church's Design
A famous architect from Chicago named Joseph Molitor designed St. Mary's Church. He used a style called Romanesque Revival. This style often includes round arches and strong, solid shapes. The church was built using large blocks of limestone, which gives it a rough, natural look on the outside.
The church building has a unique L-shape. It is the tallest building in Beaverville and easy to spot from far away.
The Grand Entrance and Towers
The main entrance of the church is on its west side. There are three sets of double doors. Each door has a beautiful stained glass window above it, called a transom.
On each side of the entrance, there is a tall, four-story tower. The third and fourth floors of these towers are open. They have arched openings framed by decorative columns called pilasters. The third-floor openings have railings, while the fourth-floor openings have special keystone designs and classical cornices. Both towers are topped with triangular shapes called pediments.
The Dome and Roofs
In the center of the church, there is an eight-sided section. This part is topped with a large dome roof. The dome is covered with red French clay tiles. Each side of this eight-sided section is about 52 feet long.
At the very top of the dome, there is a small, flat, eight-sided area. An iron railing surrounds this section. The rest of the church is covered by seven other gable roofs. A smaller eight-sided roof covers a wing of the church. All these roofs are also covered with the same red tiles. About 22,000 tiles were used to build all the church's roofs!
Beautiful Stained Glass Windows
Each long side of the church has seven arched stained glass windows on its first floor. Six of these windows are the same size. A larger window is located at the base of the main eight-sided section.
The second story of the eight-sided section has three smaller windows on each side. The church's wing also has five more stained glass windows. Two are on each floor of the west side, and one is on the east side's second story. These windows fill the church with colorful light.
A Look at the Church's History
The St. Mary's parish started in 1857. At that time, the village of Beaverville was known as St. Marie. The parish opened its own school in 1895. A year later, they also established a convent.
Because more and more people joined the parish, they needed a bigger church. So, construction on the current church building began in 1909. The new church was officially opened in 1911. However, it took a long time to pay off all the building costs. The church's construction debts were not fully paid until 1945.
After the debt was cleared, the church's members decorated the inside. Sadly, many of these decorations were changed or removed during renovations in the 1970s. The parish's elementary school closed in 1965, and the high school closed in 1969. Even so, church services are still held in this beautiful historic building today.
