Dearborn Historical Marker St. John The Baptist Church

A Visit to Aurora and Lawrenceburg, Indiana
A Visit to Aurora and Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Dearborn  Historical Marker St. John The Baptist Church

Inscription:
Second Oldest Roman Catholic Church in Indiana. Established 1824. Original log meeting house replaced by frame church in 1842. First brick edifice erected 1847. Present church dedicated October 19, 1879.

Erected 1976 by Dearborn County Bicentennial Committee.

Location. 39° 14.67' N, 84° 56.88' W.
Marker is in Dover, Indiana, in Dearborn County.
Marker is on Indiana Route 1 just south of Sawmill Road, on the left when traveling north.
Marker is in this post office area: Guilford IN 47022, United States of America.

Brief History
Established by Irish Catholics, the congregation formed in 1820 at Dover, and then known as McKenzie's Crossroads, the church was built in 1824. It is the second oldest Catholic parish in Indiana, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and Library in Vincennes being the oldest. many locals still refer to Dover as "Tipperary." The parishioners built a log church in 1824, which they replaced with a wood frame church in 1842. Missionary priests from Cincinnati, Bardstown in Kentucky and Vincennes visited the flock to tend their needs. The parish officially formed in 1840, when permanent church records began.

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