St. Peter Catholic Church Montgomery
Established in 1834, St. Peter Catholic Church was one of the first Catholic parishes in the state and the first in the city of Montgomery and Montgomery County. From its humble beginnings as a small wooden structure, St. Peter Catholic Church remains on its original site. This church was involved in the establishment of Catholic education at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, as well as St. Margaret's Cemetery and St. Margaret's Hospital. Sparked by the influx of Catholics to Montgomery, church officials led the effort in establishing additional churches in the city: St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church (1910), St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church (1925), and Our Lady Queen of Mercy Catholic Church (1954). St. Peter Catholic Church is a member of the Archdiocese of Mobile, which was established in 1829.
From 1830 to 1832, Catholics in Montgomery met for Mass in the second story of a frame building just north of the Exchange Hotel and later in a nearby home. As the Catholic population expanded in Montgomery, the need for a dedicated church building arose. In 1833, preparations began for a Catholic church on the corner of Lawrence Street and Adams Avenue on a lot donated by Edward Hanrick. A neat, framed building was completed in early 1834 and dedicated April 25, 1834, by Bishop Michael Portier of Mobile, Mobile County. He appointed his nephew, Rev. S. Cholon, as resident priest. This new Catholic church was named for St. Peter, honoring the immediate successor of Christ as the head of the Church and whose name graces the Basilica of St. Peter's of Rome.
According to local lore, the little frame church was destroyed by fire in 1840, and a group of men, known as the "Twelve Apostles," built a new structure. Ten years later, Father Anthony Dominic Pellicer began his tenure. With the Catholic population growing, a new larger church was needed. Pellicer traveled to Mexico City to solicit funds from Catholics there but was robbed outside Vera Cruz on his return trip. Sometime later he traveled to Cuba and successfully raised the necessary funds. Pellicer formalized a contract to construct the present church, and a year later, in 1852, it was completed for $7,000 in gold. Built in the Spanish colonial style with a Baroque-inspired interior, this new St. Peter Catholic Church was consecrated by Bishop John Timon of Buffalo, New York, assisted by Bishop Portier. Additionally, Pellicer built a parochial residence and a brick schoolhouse in the yard. In 1861, Pellicer constructed present-day St. Margaret's Cemetery in Montgomery. As a reflection of his faith, he baptized 168 enslaved individuals, which was an uncommon practice at the time.
In 1873, Bishop John D. Quinlan applied to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Loretto, of Loretto, Kentucky, to establish an order in Montgomery to provide education for Catholics in the area. Then-pastor Father Dominic Manucy urged his parishioners to provide a place for them. The church purchased a home across from the church through a deed dated July 1, 1873, for $12,500 with $5,000 paid in cash. On January 31, 1880, the deed was transferred to Bishop Quinlan with the intent that the building be used to establish St. Mary of Loretto Catholic school for girls. Soon after, 10 sisters of the Order of the Sisters of Loretto began teaching 115 girls and later, 40 boys.
Monsignor Dennis Savage succeeded Manucy in 1874 and remained pastor until 1919. Savage oversaw an expansion of the church building, completed in 1882, that enlarged the church by 25 feet in the front and added the two towers. Two new side altars featuring Mary and Joseph and a new organ with 2,150 stenciled pipes (from the Kilgen Organ Company of St. Louis, Missouri) in the choir loft were also part of his efforts. In 1897, Savage purchased a mansion on the corner of Adams Avenue and McDonough Streets to use as a parochial school for the boys. The old schoolhouse in the church yard was thereafter used as a parish hall. Savage also was instrumental in establishing St. Margaret's Hospital through the Daughters of Charity in 1901. The Order bought the mansion once owned by former governor Thomas Hill Watts on Adams Avenue and opened St. Margaret's Hospital in June 1902. Its nursing training program merged with Troy State College in 1957.
Father Patrick Turner, who succeeded Savage in 1922, was devoted to assisting the poor and help found St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church in 1925. Under Turner's guidance, the 14 stained-glass windows in the main sanctuary, designed by the Emil Frey Art Glass Company of St. Louis, Missouri, were installed. The first window depicts Moses carrying the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai and the rest of the windows trace significant people in the Bible, including Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Two back windows reflect Father Turner's U.S. Army service as chaplain of the 104th Ammunition Train during World War I. The Soldier's Memorial Window was donated by the Veterans of the 128th Field Artillery, for whom Turner was chaplain, in memory of those soldiers who sacrificed their lives. It depicts a chaplain in a U.S. Army full-field uniform giving absolution to a uniformed soldier. The Sailor's Memorial Window shows a priest administering Holy Communion to a sailor at an improvised altar on an American battleship.
In 1928, Rev. Edward J. Hackett succeeded Turner and was himself succeeded by Rev. John O'Kelley in 1930. For a short time in 1932, Msgr. James B. Rogers served as the head of the church and oversaw improving the grounds, removing the old school facing Lawrence Street, installing a new tile roof, and adding steam heat in both the church and the parish house. He also oversaw construction of a library in the basement and new school. Also under his guidance, the parish built a four-room brick school for grades one through four on the northeast corner of Lawrence and Alabama Streets in 1938. In 1952, St. Peter Catholic Church joined with St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church and St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church to erect St. Mary's of Loretto High School next to St. Peter. The school was later renamed Montgomery Catholic High School and in 1965 moved to new facilities on Vaughn Road.
In 1969, Father Francis Cusack built the new Spanish-style rectory (or priests’ residence) and parish hall replacing the existing rectory. Continuing to grow and expand, the first Mass celebrated in Spanish in 1972 inaugurated service to the Hispanic community. One year later, the first Communal Anointing of the Sick, a Catholic sacrament, was administered and continues to this day.
In 2000, major renovations of the church interior began with the installation of decorative molded plaster tiles in the ceiling similar to the curved ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Other renovations included cleaning the Stations of the Cross, repairing the reredos (the large altarpiece behind the main altar with Christ flanked by Saints Peter and Paul), and refinishing the church’s original pews. Twelve years later, the main entrance of the church was relocated to the Lawrence Street side during construction of the John Dowe Plaza.
Nearing its third century, St. Peter Catholic Church continues to provide a strong foundation for Catholics with outreach and service to the poor and underserved communities. Parishioners experience the rich history of this church through its offering of educational programs, daily Mass, and other sacraments of the Catholic faith. Visitors are welcome to see this magnificent church and attend its services.
