St. Mary's Catholic Church (Indianapolis, Indiana)
St. Mary Catholic Church (St. Marienkirche) is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Originally founded in 1858 to serve the city's growing German population, it is noted for its historic parish church at the corner of New Jersey and Vermont streets, which was completed in 1912. Designed by architect Hermann J. Gaul in the late Gothic Revival style, it follows a cruciform plan modeled after the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History In 1856 Reverend Peter Leonard Brandt arrived from Vincennes, Indiana, to establish a German-speaking parish among the German Catholics of Indianapolis. The parish's first permanent pastor was Reverend Simon Siegrist. St. Mary's parish built their first church at 117 East Maryland Street in 1858. Parish priests conducted services in Latin and German, and the church retained Old World traditions. In addition to the area's German-speaking population, St. Mary's served the neighborhood's Italian immigrants until the Diocese of Indianapolis established Holy Rosary Catholic Church, an Italian national parish, in Indianapolis in 1911. After the turn of the century, when the neighborhood become commercial, the parish purchased property at New Jersey