Some Churches of Clinton County, Illinois
THREADED ALONG highway 161 in Clinton County, Illinois, is a remarkable series of Catholic churches. Like the precious jewel beads of a rosary made for a queen is this succession of fine churches made for the royal priesthood of the faithful.
Saint George, in New Baden.
Saint George, in New Baden.
More photos.
Saint Mary, in Carlyle.
These churches are remarkably well preserved and finely renovated inside.
According to a correspondent who sent me this list of churches, there are other notable Catholic churches in the county, but I had time to visit only one more:
Saint Mary, in Carlyle.
These churches are in the Diocese of Belleville.
See also:
Saint Augustine, in Breese
Saint Dominic, in Breese
Saint Francis of Assisi, in Aviston
Saint Mary's, in Trenton
See also:
Saint Augustine, in Breese
Saint Dominic, in Breese
Saint Francis of Assisi, in Aviston
Saint Mary's, in Trenton
10 comments:
Mark, am I missing something?
"St. Mary, in Carlyle" certainly is remarkable (if not unique) architecture. But is hard to see the others as "a remarkable series of Catholic churches". They are nice, pleasant, typically rural, but (to my eyes) not at all unusual. So please enlighten me.
They are actually all in the Diocese of Belleville.
Irene: Always a critic! Or maybe half of the time.
Mike: Silly me. Corrected.
Thanks for the photos. I am going to link to them on my So-Il Catholic blog.
considering a lot of churches look like this ...
http://flickr.com/photos/16634670@N00/2476611113
this makes for a remarkable series of churches in comparison.
Don't mean to be a critic.
Your images are so exemplary I try to learn from each one. This series simply puzzled me because I couldn't see what was remarkable about the other churches, and felt I must be missing something really obvious.
Considering that these churches are in rather small towns, I found their relative size, age, artistic merit, and close proximity to be of remark. These tend to either approach or surpass many major urban churches of the area in these characteristics.
Also their state of preservation or restoration.
Thank you for the photos!
Frankie Heinzmann
http://clinton.ilgenweb.net
Indeed these are roughly half the county's Catholic churches; others can be found in Trenton, Aviston, Breese (2 of them!), and Beckemeyer. I grew up in Clinton County (and live here again now); having seen other churches around the country, I am proud of the care that goes into keeping them as beautiful as they are.
With the Wicks Organ company nearby in Highland, many of these churches also have large, multi-rank pipe organs.
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