St. Paul Parish – Angelus

Founded 1887

German Catholics settled the prairie of southwestern Sheridan County in 1887, with missionary Capuchin priests traveling to their homes every three months to offer the Mass.

The residents built their first church in 1891. A parish history states that when the church bell first sounded the Angelus, its donor, Elizabeth Boeger, suggested the town be called that. The parish began a school in 1892, staffed briefly by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia and later by Sisters of the Precious Blood of Wichita.

The present church building was started in 1917 and completed a year later. The brick structure of Gothic design towers 130 feet high and seats 400.

During its 50th jubilee year in 1937, parishioners constructed a grotto made from rock collected throughout the area and and neighboring states, as well as shells and pebbles from both the East and West coasts.

Msgr. Michael Dreiling was the parish’s longest-serving priest, from 1939 to 1966. St. Paul’s has been a mission parish since 1973.