Catharine (Katharinenstadt),
Kansas Exhibit

Catharine (Katharinenstadt), Kansas

The models in this exhibit and in the Special Collections Room are buildings from the town of Catharine, located about 10 miles northeast of Hays.
Jerome Schmidt, of Hays, began building these models in 2001. He donated them to Forsyth Library in 2007, so that they may be on exhibit for the public to view.

Sisters Convent

A two-story frame house located across the street from the school, it became the living quarters for the St. Agnes sisters who taught at the school. They moved into the house in 1908 which remained their home until 1952 when a new convent was built.
This building and the portable dance floor near the Casino Hall were dismantled to provide lumber for the new convent.
The Sisters of St. Agnes taught at the school until 1967.

First Public School

The school children in Catharine had been attending classes in the home of their teacher, Mr. Walter. By the late 1870's, the house was too crowded to hold all the students, and the village people agreed to build a new building for the purpose of a school.
A stone public school was built in 1879, and a 12' x 12' sanctuarium was attached on the east side where worship services were held until 1892.
The school was purchased by the Concordia Diocese of the Catholic Church and changed to a parochial school in 1897. It was becoming crowded, and plans were begun to build a new school.
This building was dismantled in 1902, and some of the materials were used in building the new school.

top east window of St. Catherine's Parochial School

St. Catherinn Schule Sign
1902 N Chr.

St Catherine's Parochial School

This school building was built in 1902 at a cost of $4238 and had four rooms. The parochial school remained that way until 1935 when it became a public school. In 1966, the St. Catherine School became part of the Hays School District #489, and in 1973 the property was sold to USD #489 for $1.00 with the stipulation that the school be returned to the parish when the district no longer needed it.
The seventh and eighth graders began attending the Junior High Schools in Hays in 1968, while grades 1-6 stayed at the St. Catherine School until the fall of 1999 when the school was closed.
The building is used today as a social center for the townspeople of Catharine.

Leseverein Library / Casino Hall

The St. Joseph's Leseverein, a library association, was established in 1906. The group raised funds to purchase books for a library which was located in a room in the parochial school building.
The Leseverein Library had became too crowded in its space in the parochial school, and parishioners decided to raise funds to build a social event center. The Casino Hall was built in 1915 and housed the library until the mid-1920's when the Leseverein Reading Club disbanded.
The Casino Hall was a meeting place for the townspeople until the late 1950's. After deteriorating for many years, the Hall was dismantled in May 1969.

Leseverein
Casino Hall
1915-1969

The Cross

The townspeople put up a cross and used the area around it as a gathering place for worship until the church was built.

St Catherine Church
Dedicated on October 6, 1892

The townspeople of Catharine began planning to build a new church in the late 1880's. A fund was started in 1886 for expenses, and on May 19, 1890, the work of building the church began. Justus Bissing, Jr. of Hays was the contractor and A. Druiding of Chicago was the architect.
The St. Catherine Church is still in use today and is part of the Heartland Parishes of the Catholic Diocese of Salina.

The cost of building the church was $9790.39
Front width of the church is 40 feet
Length of church is 60 feet, 6 inches
Height to the arched ceiling in the center is 38 feet, 3 inches
Height from church floor to top of the tower cross is 116 feet, 7 inches
Parish steeple was removed in 1970 for structural reasons, and a new one was installed in 1981.

St. Catherine Church Rectory
Built onto the church in 1892

The rectory consisted of the sacristy and six additional furnished rooms that were the living quarters. It served in this capacity until 1899 when the Sisters of St. Agnes moved in, and a two-room frame house was built for the priest. In 1908, the rectory became the monastery after the nuns moved to their new living quarters. The annex was extended another 22 feet in 1921 which gave it an additional 6 rooms.
In 1968, the rectory was vacated when the parish priest moved his living quarters to the house that was previously the home to the St. Agnes Sisters. The rectory is currently used as a place for special gatherings and meetings.