Sacred Heart Parish – Greenleaf

Founded 1890

Father Joseph Rimmele, the missionary priest based at St. Mary’s Indian Mission in Pottawotomie County, began visiting the area in 1868. Mass was said in residents’ homes until 1880, when the local Catholics purchased an old school house that had been moved from another settlement to Greenleaf in 1877. It was remodeled and dedicated to St. Mary of the Rosary.

In 1889, the parish began building a new church, which was named Sacred Heart. It was repaired and remodeled in 1902 after being struck by lightning. A rectory was built in 1904, and it was replaced in 1916.

When the brick veneer of the church was discovered to be unsafe in 1922, parishioners took the opportunity to enlarge the church as well as reface it. In 1934, parishioner dug a 30- by 70-foot basement beneath the church for a parish hall.