St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
1855–present
The spiritual heart of Hubbardston since 1855 — from a converted sheep-shed to a Gothic Revival landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.
A Church Born in a Sheep-Shed
The history of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church begins not with a building, but with a converted sheep-shed on John Cowman's farm. Cowman, the first Irish Catholic settler in the area (arriving in 1849), opened his property to the small but growing community of Irish immigrants who needed a place to worship.
Father George Goditz of Westphalia, Clinton County, began making pastoral visits around 1853, holding services at John Cummings' house for a congregation of just seven families. The parish was formally organized in 1855.
The First Church (1857)
In 1857, the community built their first proper church on Section 11, approximately one mile west of the village on the Cowman farm. It was a modest structure, reflecting the limited resources of the famine-refugee community that built it.
But the congregation grew rapidly. By the 1860s, the original building had been enlarged several times and still could not accommodate the growing number of Irish families. Its location outside the village center was increasingly inconvenient.
The Current Church (1868-1869)
In 1868, the parish — now numbering approximately seventy families — purchased a plot in the village and began construction of a new church. The building was completed in 1869 at a cost of $8,000, a substantial sum for a farming community. It was built entirely by Irish immigrant labor.
The result was the largest church building in Ionia County at the time, seating between 400 and 700 persons (sources vary). For a village of a few hundred people, this was a statement: the church would be the dominant structure, both physically and socially.
Architecture
The church is a Gothic Revival structure with distinctive features:
- Rectangular, wood-frame construction with a fieldstone foundation
- Clapboard exterior with a slate gable roof
- Tall pointed-arch (Gothic) windows that define the facade
- Central square-plan entry tower projecting from the front
- Symmetrical front design typical of rural Gothic Revival churches
The Church Complex
Over the decades, the parish grew into a full complex:
| Structure | Year | Notes | |-----------|------|-------| | Church | 1868-69 | Gothic Revival, the core building | | Cemetery | 1884 | Consecrated 1884; land donated by Roach, Welch, Hogan, Cahalan, and Connell families | | Rectory | 1907-08 | Designed by Donaldson and Meier, Detroit architects | | School | 1917 | Same Detroit firm; operated until 1965 | | Convent | 1927 | Razed in 1987 | | Parish Hall | 1977 | Still in use for community events |
National Register of Historic Places
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 2001, and designated a Michigan State Historic Site on January 18, 2001. The listing recognizes both the architectural significance of the Gothic Revival building and its role as the institutional anchor of Hubbardston's Irish Catholic community.
A Michigan Historical Commission marker at the site notes that "St. John the Baptist Church was organized in 1855 to serve Irish Catholic immigrants" and that the cemetery "contains the graves of the Irish founders of the parish and their descendants."
Father Eugene R. Fox
The longest-serving pastor was Father Eugene R. Fox, who led the parish from 1938 to 1986 — nearly half a century. A shrine at the cemetery entrance pays tribute to his extraordinary tenure. Father Fox guided the parish through the Great Depression's aftermath, World War II, and the sweeping changes of Vatican II.
Today
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church remains an active parish in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, clustered with St. Mary Parish in nearby Carson City. It continues to serve as the spiritual center of Hubbardston — the same role it has played since seven Irish families gathered in a sheep-shed more than 170 years ago.
The church stands on South Washington Avenue in the heart of Hubbardston, its Gothic arched windows and entry tower visible from across the village — a monument to the faith and determination of the immigrants who built it.