Secrets of Buffalo: St. Louis Church Part 2, Down Under
The Tomb: The land on which the Church sits was originally donated to the congregation with the stipulation that it eventually house a cemetery. After a fire in the original church building, the present structure was built and became a major landmark. As Buffalo grew, the land became valuable. In 1909, the descendants of the donor came back to reclaim the plot for their use, stating that the cemetery covenant had not been fulfilled. Ha! said the congregation, there is a cemetery on the site. In the interim, they had entombed the remains of Fr. Joseph M. Sorg in the Church Hall, thus fulfilling the contract. The tomb, now in the basement, is the wonderful red brick structure with white marble memorial plaque shown here.
The Relics: Being over 160 years old, the congregation had amassed a sizable collection of historic artifacts. The collection, gathered for the purpose of creating a museum, is a wonderful part of Buffalo's cultural history. It was originally assembled way back in 1954 by Edwin Kolb and others to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the parish. The Church is currently constructing a permanent home for the collection, which they expect to dedicate and open to the public next spring.
The Foundation: Perhaps the most intriguing part of the tour was deep within the bowels of the Church. Below most of the sanctuary, the raw supporting structure of the church is exposed to view. The floor is composed of dry, dusty soil--the very same soil that existed at the time of construction. The massive rough-cut timbers are set on piles of stone. It is a place where time stands still. You can imagine those craftsmen assembling the structure before your eyes.
Check out more images of St. Louis Church here. For more information on the church you can contact Michael Riester, the church archivist. See their web site.
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flyguy
Wow. Thanks for writing about this. Very cool. I dont think many people know about the hidden history within Buffalo. Thanks again
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doc
Beautiful! I have always thought that St. Louis should be the Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese in Buffalo. When St. Joseph's New Cathedral was dismantled, due to faulty craftsmanship in spite of warnings about the substandard marble the diocese chose to use at that time, St. Joseph’s Old Cathedral reverted back to the seat of the diocese. It’s a nice church tucked in next to downtown police headquarters, but it lacks the grandeur that the seat of a major, national Catholic diocese should have. Now imagine St. Louis as the city's Catholic Cathedral flanked by three-story, upscale red brick Philadelphia-style brownstone row houses on the vacant lot across Edward St next to Ansonia Center! Behind that the beautiful Cyclorama. Across the Street the Sidway and imagine the impact on the burgeoning 700 Block. I'd be at Chow chocolat every night... Man I wish I had 100 million bucks to buy and build out that corner. Imagine what just one concentration of residences in that location could do to nicely finish-off that area of town! Thanks for letting me dream a little.
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PaulBuffalo
I have spent much time visiting the California Spanish missions. Much of the state's history can be traced to these 21 missions that run along the coast from SanDiego to SanFrancisco. They are all tourist magnets.
When I lived in NYC, I often passed by the churches in Harlem on Sunday mornings. The tourist buses of European and Asian passengers lined the streets.
As I look at these photos, I think Buffalo would benefit if all churches of all denominations grouped together in an organized way to open their doors to tourism. Buffalo does a poor job in revealing its history and the church tourism would be a good first step in telling the story of the area.
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negarvey
Thanks for the great article on St. Louis. What a magnificent building. St. Louis was my late father's childhood parish, where he was an alterboy in the late 20's and early 30's. Long after we had moved to the 'burbs in the late 50's, my family maintained an emotional attachment to St. Louis, often attending special holiday Masses. My folks celebrated their 50th anniversay Mass there and we even had one of the children baptized at St. Louis at that same event. (It's also within walking distance of my office, convenient for Ash Wednesday services, etc. ) As kids we were under the impression that the model for St. Louis was the beautiful Strasbourg Cathedral, which looks much more like St.Louis than the much larger, twin-towered Cologne Cathedral. ( check out pictures of Notre Dame De Strasbourg at http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/strasbourg-cathedral.htm ... and you'll see what I mean. ) The Strasbourg Cathedral has a single tower, is high Gothic in style and has the distinction of having been the tallest structure in Europe from the mid-17th through the mid-19th centuries.
As for the comment about St. Louis being considered for the new diocesan seat in replacement of the the demolished (New) St. Joseph's Cathedral, I believe that option was actually considered, but if I am not mistaken, St. Louis, as the mother church of the diocese, enjoyed a certain degree of independence from the local diocese/bishop, and the St, Louis parish council declined the honor ( and the loss of their independence ! ) Again, just a great article....please do more Buffalo churches.
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RaChaCha
PaulBuffalo, I couldn't agree more - Buffalo's churches are a wonder. Even our grandest churches in My Fair City seem run of the mill compared to those in Your Fair City.
negarvey, I've also heard that story about St. Louis parish being relatively more independent within the diocese. Particularly, I've heard that given as one reason the church is landmarked (i.e., listed in the National Register of Historic Places) whereas in most cases diocesean officials (and not just in Buffalo) resist having churches landmarked because of a (misplaced) fear that it will interfere with their ability to do whatever they see fit to do with them.
doc, it's fun to picture, under your scenario, the run-ins between the bishop and the Scientologists a block up!
Steel, thank you for continuing to "dig up" these great stories!
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Perry
Great Part 2 story...in fact, keep on writing, making it a 18 part story...fascinating stuff! Like I said yesterday, I've walked by this building literally 1,500 time due to previously living in Allentown and working in the Theatre District, yet never set foot in the building. I always wondered what was up top, and below...now I know.
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tudorguy
For all those interested, I know WNED-TV did a really good program and DVD on "Houses of Worship" (I think that's the title) about Churches in Buffalo.
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