St, Mary's Catholic Church - Hawk Point, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 58.194 W 091° 07.863
15S E 661910 N 4315097
Catholic church has been here a long time, back in the days when the Germans & Czechs settled this area.
Waymark Code: WM12F80
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 05/15/2020
Views: 0
County of church: Lincoln County
Location of church: Main St. & Washington St. Hawk Point
Phone: (636) 338-4331
Fax: (636) 338-4007
Architectural Style: Gothic Revival
NOTE: [Update: 2024]
This church was scheduled for closure by the Archdiocese, but now is a mission church. No school, no parish, but a traveling priest (from Holy Rosary in Warrenton) come on Sundays to say mass.
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"Six families from Czechoslovakia moved to the United States in the year 1848 and settled six miles northwest of Troy, Missouri. The land was a good location for farming, and after the year 1850, more families moved to the neighborhood to number about 30.
"Faithful members of the Roman Catholic Church, these families gathered in private homes on Sundays to hold church services. Lacking a priest, these were services of devotion and adoration. A Catholic priest would visit the Bohemian community six times a year to say Mass.
"In 1862, the first log church was built at Mashek, Missouri and after the Civil War, a new frame church was erected. As the parish grew, priests from St. Louis would occasionally come to say Mass.
"In 1918 after a week long parish mission, three members of the community, Frank Kniezel, Frank Martinek and Joseph Shilharvey were selected to purchase a building in Hawk Point. They purchased a hotel building and converted part of it for a chapel and the other part for a home to house a permanent priest. In 1919 Fr. Wenceslaus Svehla came and served as the resident pastor for Hawk Point and Mashek until 1939.
"As the years went by, the parish grew larger and a new brick church building was constructed in 1928 at the present site for approximately $16,000. A brick school building was built in 1937 and children from Troy and Warrenton attended until each Catholic community built their own schools. Our own parish school of religion (PSR) meets most Sunday mornings now from 8:30-9:30 September through May.
"Today, St. Mary's Catholic Church continues to serve its local community in a variety of ways such as collecting food items for the Hawk Point Food Pantry, and assisting local school." ~ Church History