St. Mary's Catholic Church, Bangor, ca. 1930
Item 35486 info
John Bapst Memorial High School
The Know-Nothings continued their assault against Bapst and the Catholics, threatening to burn the church there. Penobscot Indians and parishioners held them off.
Father Bapst became determined that local Catholics needed a larger building to show that the Catholics could not be scared away. The larger church also was necessary because of the growth of the Catholic population in Bangor and the surrounding area.
Despite two enlargements, St. Michael's Church was so crowded that worshipers often had to kneel outside on the green.
His first choice for a location brought objections from Protestants, so he bought property on York Street, where he led efforts to build a new structure.
The cornerstone for St. John's was laid on Dec. 8, 1854. To commemorate Bapst's fight against the Know-Nothings, a piece of tarred, feathered, and bloodstained cassock was placed under the stone.
Parishioners guarded the unfinished structure at night.
The first mass was in 1855, but the building was not completed until shortly before Christmas 1856.
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