St. Cecilia's History

St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church dates back to 1880, when it was created as a mission church of St. Paul Catholic Church in Florence. This arrangement existed until 1919, when our first resident pastor, Fr. Henry Heringhaus, oversaw the construction of a new church building on the site near where our cemetery had come into being in 1911. The introduction of St. Cecilia School followed quickly thereafter, with the first school building being erected in 1919. Our parish and school have seen plenty of expansion since those days, culminating in the construction of our current church building in 1997, and an addition to our school in 2000. Over the years, St. Cecilia has had 13 full-time pastors, eight associate pastors and two deacons. We have also had two sons of St. Cecilia enter the priesthood, and 13 daughters of St. Cecilia who became nuns.

To see the full story of St. Cecilia Parish, from her first days as a small town parish, to the beautiful campus and community that we have today, check out our St. Cecilia Historical Timeline!