File:St. Helen's Catholic Church, 1952 - Hebron, Indiana (4159012834).jpg

St. Helen's Church, Hebron, Indiana

Date: 1952 Source Type: Postcard Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Curt Teich (#2C104) Postmark: None Collection: Steven R. Shook Remark: A relatively small number of Catholics settled in the Hebron area, which was not great enough to support the construction of a church. In 1866, Hebron became a mission out of Valparaiso, under the direction of Father Michael O'Reilly of St. Paul's Catholic Church, and mass was celebrated at various Catholic family homes in the Hebron area. For nearly 48 years, mass was held exclusively at the Ryan family residence. In 1872, the mission was transferred to Crown Point in Lake County in since it was easier to travel to and from relative to Valparaiso. Around 1925, members of the Hebron mission affiliated with St. Mary's Catholic Church in Kouts and discontinued celebrating mass in the homes of local Catholic families.

The church seen here, located at 108 North Jefferson Street, was built in 1879 on the same site in which the second church building was relocated in town; it cost approximately $2,500 to construct. Its steeple was eighty feet high and it was the first structure in Hebron to be heated with a furnace. Membership in the church decreased substantially during the early 1900s, which finally resulted in the discontinuation of services in 1935. In 1933, the Dutch Reform Church took over the church building, but discontinued use of the building in June of 1936. Later, St. Helen's Catholic Church, used this building for its services. The St. Helen's congregation later replaced this building with another structure and sold it in the mid 1970s to the Church of God of Prophecy.