St. Peter's Catholic Church

St. Peter's Catholic Church is home to a congregation established by German immigrants in 1887. Situated on a bluff overlooking the city, it was built in 1888 and is a good example of Gothic Revival architecture. It features a tall 100-food bell tower topped by a spire, buttresses, pilasters, lancet windows, and decorative brickwork. St. Peter's was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The idea for the church originated with a group of German women in December 1884. They formed a society where each member agreed to contribute a monthly fee to fund the project and in May 1886 local Catholic men formed their own group to help in the effort. St. Peter's parish was established on April 25, 1887. The first pastor was Brother Adolph Wesseling who was tasked with not only serving as leader of the parish but to also oversee the construction of the church, which was completed the next year. Six months after the church was dedicated a school and house (for Benedictine nuns who taught at the school) were built. The rectory was built eight years later (until then the parish priest lived in the back of the school). The Benedictines operated St. Peter's until 1975 when it became part of the Diocese of Des Moines. The parish hall was built in 1999 and church was updated in 2001.

Naumann, Molly Myers. "St. Peter's Church & Rectory." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. July 24, 1992. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/92000923_text.

"Our Church History." St. Peter's Catholic Church. Accessed February 12, 2022. http://saintpeterscb.org/our-church-history.