page_title: St. Anthony's Catholic Church (Davenport, Iowa)
section_title: School
hierarchical_section_title: St. Anthony's Catholic Church (Davenport, Iowa) / School
caption_attribution_description: English: The original St. Anthony's Catholic Church Davenport, Iowa built in 1838.
context_page_description: St. Anthony's Catholic Church is a parish church 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 Catholic congregation, after St. Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque, 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 the oldest standing church building in Iowa. The designation also included the rectory, which was torn down in 2009. The complex was 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.
context_section_description: St. Anthony's School opened in 1839 with Father Pelamourgues as its teacher.  Initially, classes were taught in the body of the church with a curtain closing off the sanctuary. In 1844 the church building was extended 35 feet (11 m) to the east to accommodate the new classroom space.  The most prominent pupil to be educated at St. Anthony's in its early years was John Forrest Dillon, who would go on to become the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and a United States circuit court judge.
  In 1844 Father Pelamourgues convinced the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary to teach in the school and to start a school for girls.  However, financial conditions were such that the sisters only stayed for three years.  They returned in 1855 to teach at St. Anthony's.  Immaculate Conception Academy was founded as a girls' school in 1859, and was located up the hill from St. Anthony's in 1864.  The Sisters who taught at St. Anthony's lived at the academy.  It remained in operation until it was merged with St. Ambrose Academy to form Assumption High School in 1958.  It was at that time the parish purchased the Fred Finch House on Main Street for a convent to house the sisters who taught a St. Anthony's.  The parish school at St. Anthony's continued until it closed in 1968 because of low enrollment.  The building continues to be used for the parish's religious education program.
caption: Undated photo of the original St. Anthony's Church built in 1838. Iowa's oldest church structure still in use.
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