Fort Smith Times

Immaculate Conception Church - Fort Smith issued the following announcement on Mar. 19.

A little history about our church!

Immaculate Conception

The founding and initial growth for Catholicism came from Ireland during the 1840s and 1850s. The first Irish Catholic in Fort Smith was Michael Manning, who arrived here from New Orleans to work construction. The first known mass to be celebrated in Fort Smith took place in his home.

As more Catholics moved to town, a need for a church greatly increased. Manning deeded land for the first church and caught the attention of the Bishop of Little Rock, the Reverend Andrew Byrne. Soon, they completed the little log church of Saint Patrick. According to hand written notes by Father John Monaghan, Saint Patrick’s first pastor, a building contract was signed on December 3, 1847.

Father John Corry was the first pastor of the Parish. By 1908, Father Lawrence Smyth saw a dramatic growth, swelling with waves of immigrants fleeing the Irish famines. The Catholic community in Fort Smith continued to grow, adding more property. There was room for a school, convent, church, cemetery, and a hospital.

The Sisters of Mercy maintained a close relationship with the Parish. They arrived in 1853 and started schools, cared for those wounded in the Civil War, and built hospitals. St. Anne's Academy and St. Edward Mercy Medical Center were built on spiritual courage.

The little log church served the needs for the Parish until 1898 when it was destroyed by a cyclone. Sometime after the Civil War, the Parish was renamed "Immaculate Conception" but nobody knows the exact time frame for the name change.

The church, which is still used today, was completed in 18 months and was dedicated on June 1, 1899.

Today, the Immaculate Conception Parish holds an impressive structure built on brave heritage and faith. Combined of diverse ethnic cultures that minister to physical and spiritual support.

Sources:

https://www.icchurch.com/about-us

https://www.fortsmith.org/immaculate-conception-church/

https://uploads.weconnect.com/.../Saint-Boniface-The...

http://fortsmith365.com/.../fort-smith-catholic-churches/....

Original source can be found  here.

Source: Immaculate Conception Church - Fort Smith