In 1868, the pastor, Reverend Jacob A. Kuhn, organized the FIRST St. Peter's parochial school. A framed building was erected to the north of the new rectory. In it were three rooms. The teachers were three young ladies: Miss Elizabeth Haley of Sandusky, Miss Mame Gutzwiler and Miss Anna Schantz. Names of the children enrolled: Massa, Berno, Wentz, and Leibfritz, are still found in the parish today.

Reverend Jacob A. Kuhn, pictured here on the left, organized the very first St. Peter's parochial school.

In 1870, Reverend Andrew Magenhann, the fourth pastor, purchased three lots on the northwest corner of First and Mulberry Streets. On this property stood a public school building of yellow brick, two stories and providing four classrooms. This building was to now become the new St. Peter's School. At the invitation of the pastor, the Sisters of St. Francis of Joliet, Illinois, arrived in 1871 to help staff the school. They have continued to serve the parish to date.

Reverend Andrew Magenhann, the fourth pastor of St. Peter's, purchased the property on which the yellow brick old public school building stood, which became the SECOND St. Peter's School in history.

After the disasterous church fire of 1889, the yellow brick school was torn down to make room for the church/school combination (photo on left and red building in photo on right). Keep in mind that the present St. Peter's Church, shown in the picture on the right, was not there when the new red brick school building was constructed. There were four classrooms on the first floor of this new red brick building and the church was on the second floor. The first classes began in September of 1890. By September of 1907, school opened with an enrollment of 323 pupils. There were seven Sisters on the faculty. To make room for the growing enrollment, four classrooms were added to the west end of the combination church/school. About 1916, a two-year commercial course was added to the regular eight grades.

The picture on the left is that of the red brick church/school combination when completed in 1907. The picture on the right is that of the red church/school, new church, and rectory years later. Eventually, the red brick school/church building was torn down and became the church parking lot. 

The Most Rev. Samuel A. Stritch directed that a four-year high school be established in 1924. The enrollment of the first class was 23 students and these same students graduated in 1928. In 1923, when Rev. Rupert C. Goebel became pastor, the increasing number of school children called for more space in our school. In August of that year, five portable school rooms were erected on the northwest corner of South Mulberry and West First Streets next to the red brick school. All school rooms, old and new, were filled in September.

The portable classrooms on the far left and barely visible (white small buildings) are next to the red brick, school/church building.

In 1925, the priests moved into a new rectory that they still occupy today. This move made space available for a new elementary school building. On Sunday, September 12, 1926, ground was broken for the present St. Peter's Grade School. It was on March 20, 1927, that the cornerstone was laid by Bishop Stritch. The Right Rev. Samuel A. Stritch, D.D., Bishop of Toledo, Rev. F. E. Malone, Chancellor of Toledo, and members of the Mansfield clergy and community took part in ceremonies which started at 8 a.m. on the morning of March 20, 1927. Arriving at the new building, Bishop Stritch, surrounded by the remainder of the procession, placed in the cornerstone a document, several religious coins and a coin dated 1926.

Rev. Stritch commended the congregation on constructing such an "edifice in order that their children might receive an education." The cornerstone reads:

"Erected to our children
that they may honor their parents
That they may serve their country
That they may love their God
That they may save their souls."

The first classes began in September of 1927. The architect was William R. Perry of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is of Lombardesque architecture. There are 21 classrooms. The completed building cost about $250,000. It still is a distinctive and beautiful school building. The high school took over the entire red brick building and all the portable structures were sold.

St. Peter's Elementary School under construction. 
(This is the best and only photo we have on file!)

St. Peter's Elementary School, construction completed!

 

The cornerstone of St. Peter's Elementary School.

 

By 1927, the high school was in its third year and now occupied the entire red brick building since the new church was built next door. That church building is the one that we still have today. There was an enrollment of 97 in the high school. The new grade school was almost 700 students filling its halls. The principal, a Joliet Franciscan, Sister Edith Bryne, looked after both schools. Alumni members may remember the names of Sisters Teresita, Ephrem or Alberta in the grade school or Sisters Ethelberge and Lilian in the high school. There were twenty-five sisters serving in the parish schools at that time.

From the annals kept by the sisters comes this information: "During the summer vacation, the ladies of the parish took advantage of the Sisters' absence for retreat and summer school to have the convent (Sisters' house) papered and painted and various other renovations made. This was most necessary as it had been a long time since any work of the kind had been done. Owing to the crowded condition in the sisters' house, provision was made for dormitories in the new school; the monitor (now the 4th floor library) and one of the classrooms was devoted to this purpose. Seventeen sisters slept in the school building."

The "Hahn" house which was right next door to the present elementary school and sat on what is now the elementary parking lot/playground.. This house was purchased as a home for the Franciscan sisters.

 

Fr. Rupert Goebel, the pastor, began the tradition of blessing all parish children, infants through high school, on the Sunday after the opening of the school year.

In October of 1927, it was decided that uniforms should be adopted for the high school girls. According to pictures in the yearbook of 1928 (right), the girls wore a navy blue dress with a white collar and cuffs.

The very first senior class chose as their class play, "Kathleen". This class also saw the beginning of another tradition when the high school public speaking and debate team sponsored its first contest in June of 1928.

First graduating class, 1928, with pastor Fr. Rupert Goebel (center).

Class night was held for the first graduating class on June 12, 1928, in the high school auditorium. The following morning the class attended Mass together and then were invited to breakfast in the rectory. At this time, the St. Peter Alumni Association was inaugurated. (As seniors graduate from SPHS, they automatically become membes of St. Peter's Alumni. With the class of 2001, the Alumni Association numbered 4,762.) Graduation exercises were held in the auditorium (street level floor) of the red brick church on the evening of June 13 for the 23 graduates. (Remember, the church was on the second floor of that red brick building.) The annual school picnic marked the close of the school year.

The old red brick church became totally high school in 1927 when the grade school moved into its new building. All graduates of the classes from 1928 to 1958 have many fond memories of this old building. The first floor of this 1889 building housed two classrooms, a chemistry lab and a music room. The 1909 addition on the west end allowed for two more classrooms on each floor. The second floor, which was formerly the body of the church (until the new, present church was completed in 1912--see parish history), became an auditorium with a library on the north side and a typing room on the south.

Many traditions grew out of these four walls.
*The first May crowning was held in 1932 with Virginia Zartman as the May Queen who crowned the statue of Mary.
*The December bazaars became today's Christmas Classic.
*The May Festival was a forerunner of the Easter Bake Sale.
*Each senior class took pride in selecting and presenting the class play. Do you remember the name of your class play?
*The school newspaper, "The Key," was first published in October of 1943.
*Each class had a memory book but it was with the class of 1943-44 that the name "Petrarchan" was first used. 
*The Mother's Club was organized in 1956 and is today the Parents' Club.

Music always played an important role in the St. Peter's curriculum. The Sisters offered private music lessons. Gregorian chant was taught. It was used by all the high school students on the mornings that requiem masses were offered. The all-male choir with its boy sopranos enhanced our liturgical celebrations on feast days. The Sister who taught music organized an orchestra and sponsored recitals held each spring to give the music students a chance to perform.

With very few exceptions, the Sisters were the administration and faculty during the early years of the high school. Some thirty Sisters took pride in innovative teaching techniques, visits from diocesan supervisors and continuing education for themselves. Their summers were filled with school and workshops. Sister Edwina Simko was the first high school principal and Sister Tarcisius Welker, 1956-1958, was the last principal who administered both the grade and high schools.

In 1946, the King property to the west of the old high school was purchased. The seventh pastor of our parish, Monsignor R.C. Goebel, initiated a building fund appeal campaign in 1953. He did not live to see his plans completed. It was Monsignor James Hebbeler who broke ground for the new high school on May 6, 1956. By February of 1957, the steel skeleton was visible. A parishioner, Gus Hartung, stopped every day on his way home from work and snapped pictures. In one of the photos below, the girl and boy standing on the steps of the high school are his children. Marilyn Gallaway, whose maiden name was Marilyn Hartung before marrying, was that young girl on the steps. Presently, Marilyn Gallaway is the receptionist at the Parish Center!

In this photo, you can see the present elementary school and church. The other building in this picture is the red brick school/church building which was later torn down after the high school building was complete.

High school students and staff walk on these beams every day! Where is your homeroom?

  
(l. to r.) The front steps of the high school, the front door of the Parish Center/Sisters Convent, and Marilyn Hartung Gallaway and her brother standing on the high school steps.

The new high school/convent, nearly complete!

 

(Below) After the new high school opened, the old convent (which stood where the elementary parking lot/playground now stands) and the old high/school (red brick building which stood where the church parking lot now stands) were torn down.