Churches in Summer

Prints, Canvas, Greeting Cards, and Keepsakes of Churches in Summer from the back roads, small towns, and cities of America

St Francis Xavier Church, Cook County, Minnesota

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St Francis Xavier Church, Cook County, Minnesota

From the 1700s until the early 1900s, itinerant missionaries braved extreme hardships to minister sporadically to North Shore settlers. In 1855, Jesuit missionaries from Fort Williams, Ontario, served Chippewa City, an Ojibwe ommunity of about 100 families located near this site. The Jesuits conducted monthly services in residents' homes until St. Francis Xavier Church was established by Father Joseph Specht in 1895. To raise money for construction, local women held basket socials. Enticed by home-baked foods, area lumberjacks bid heavily on the handmade birch bark baskets. The small clapboard church became both a religious and social center for the community. A declining congregation forced St. Francis Xavier Church, the last remaining building in Chippewa City, to close in 1936.

2010_06_27_7391 1800's 1800s 1890's 1890s 19th century Architecture Cook Co.Cook County Heritage historic Indian Indians Landscape MN Midwest Minnesota National Register of Historic Places Native American Native Americans US USA back road back roads backroad backroads clapboard clapboard siding country facing historic place historic places historical mission missions national register nostalgic old old fashion old fashioned old time refurbished restored rural scene scenery scenes siding summer summer time summertime white