![]() News & announcements Saving your history Early accounts Maps Nearby towns People Churches Schools Municipal Organizations Businesses The mines Transportation Streets Buildings Entertainment Celebrations Sports Ethnic groups |
Home
-:- Site map -:- Links -:- Print
resources
-:- Contact |
History
of Freeland, Pa. St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic Church |
|
St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic Church - The original St. John's Nepomucene Church was built in 1892 at Ridge and Luzerne Streets. Later in 1915 a new church was built on Vine Street at South Street, as commemorated on the cornerstone. The photo below left appeared in the Kalendar Jednota 1906. Its caption translates to: "Slovak Church and Rev. Karol Pajdusak, pastor in Freeland, Pa."Also from the same Kalendar Jednota 1906, here is a view of the interior of the old church. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Just down the street on the same block of Ridge St. was St. Casimir's Church; both churches can be seen in the photo below left. The lower left part of that image can be seen enlarged below right, showing what the neighborhood looked like in the early years of the parishes, possibly 1890s. ![]() ![]() ![]() In 1915 a beautiful new stone church was built by Italian stonemason Joe Ranieri and his crew. They were the same stonemasons who built St. Luke's stone church, replacing the original wooden building. They also built the building that became the Corner Market on Ridge and Main, and Joe and his wife had a store there for awhile. There is more information about them and about Joe's crew on his webpage, use the link in this paragraph. The two photos at left below came to me from Betty Piccione, and I'm grateful for these early views of the new church. As you see from the left photo, the streets in that area of town were unpaved and there were few other buildings around it, especially southward. The stone work was masterful and beautifully done. What an elegant new home for the Slovak Catholic congregation. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Looking at these wonderful costumes, it looks like these people were enacting some skits or a play relating to life in the old country, celebrating their Slovak roots. I wish we had the names of all of these parishioners! This photo seems like it was taken in front of the old church, which was used for many years as a parish center once the new church was built in 1915. ![]() And finally, here are some views of the Vine Street church from several angles. I like the view of the back of the building because it emphasizes how complex the design and the stonework were. This was 1915! They quarried all of the stone for this and several other buildings from a quarry not far to the west of the church, out behind Green Street somewhere. The bottom right photo shows the rectory. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |