St. Anthony's Catholic Church 3.37

St. Anthony's Catholic Church is a parish in the Diocese of Davenport. The parish complex is located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States, at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets. It is the first church congregation organized in the city of Davenport and the second, after St. Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque, Catholic congregation in the state of Iowa. The parish buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church Complex. The designation includes the church and the former school building, which is the parish's original church building and is the oldest standing church building in the state of Iowa. The designation also included the rectory, which was torn down in 2009. It is also listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1992 as St. Anthony's Church Square. The property has been known historically as Church Square.HistoryDevelopmentIn 1832, on what is now the city of Davenport, Chief Keokuk of the Sauk tribe signed a treaty with the United States government after the tribe’s defeat in the Black Hawk War. The tribe ceded land on the west side of the Mississippi River, which was then opened to settlement. Antoine LeClaire, who was French-Pottawattamie and served as translator at the treaty signing, received two parcels of land. The original section of the city was laid out in 1836. The next year an addition was made to the small town on one of LeClaire’s parcels. He stipulated that a Catholic church be built on one of the squares. That same year a frontier missionary, the Rev. Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, OP, arrived in Davenport and started the parish. At that time there were 25 Catholics in a town of 100 people. It is the oldest church congregation in Davenport.