Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints is a historic Catholic church built in 1885. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places primarily for its excellent late Gothic Revival architecture. Built of red brick, notable features include a 180-foot central tower, two 75-foot corner towers (all three are topped by spires), lancet stained glass windows, and buttresses. The Church of All Saints was first known as St. Peter Church.

The first Catholic parish in Keokuk, St. John the Evangelist, was established in 1844 by a French priest named Rev. Lucien Galtier, who was born c. 1812 in southern France. In the early 1840s it appears there were around 38 Catholics in Keokuk. The church was a log a small, 20 by 30-foot structure that, apparently, Galtier helped build. He didn't remain long in Keokuk, however, as he moved to Dubuque and then returned to France.

The original St. Peter Church was built in 1856 by a priest named Father William Edmonds. The congregation consisted of mostly German immigrants who had fled religious persecution. In 1867, another church, St. Mary Church, was built and the German Catholics moved there. St. Peter Church then served the English-speaking Catholics in Keokuk. Construction of the current St. Peter Church began in June 1881. It took four years to complete the church because the congregation had difficulty paying for it. Its architect, William John Dillenburg, designed many churches in Milwaukee and Chicago. He also helped design the final phase of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

In 1982, the three churches consolidated into the Church of All Saints because the population in Keokuk was decreasing and there was a lack of priests in the diocese.

Jacobsen, James E. "St. Peter Church." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. July 14, 1983. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/83000384_text.

Schmidt, Madeleine M. Seasons of Growth: History of the Diocese of Davenport. Davenport, Iowa: Diocese of Davenport, 1981.