History & Overview

SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH

Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 202 S. 5th Avenue, has long been a major part of the Templeton community. Sacred Heart is the only church congregation to ever exist in Templeton, which is evidence of the strong German-Catholic heritage of the area. The Parish had its early start in the late 1870's, and the first church building was constructed in Templeton in 1883.

The current church building was constructed in 1900, and was designed after a beautiful monastery church in the Old World. The building is of Gothic style, and was once one of the largest in Carroll County seating over 700. The church originally had a large steeple 150 feet high, although modifications in the 1970's resulted in the removal of the steeple and reconstruction of the bell tower. The church originally cost $28,000 to construct, and another $5,000 was spent for the altars and furnishings. Highlights of the building include a Communion rail of pure onyx, and a statue of St. Michael the Archangel is of imported Italian marble. The church bell was cast in St. Louis in 1889, is 53 inches in diameter, weighs 2,675 pounds, and is a "D" natural on the diatonic scale. The church has undergone periodic changes over the years, including a major renovation project in 2010 that included construction of a gathering area (narthex) and restroom facilities, repainting and altar redecorating, new flooring, pew refinishing, and a new heating and cooling system. Today, the church is a beautiful structure that is representative of the strength of the community as a whole.

The Sacred Heart Parish has a long history with education in the Templeton area. The first School was built in 1889, and the first Catholic high school in Carroll County was started at Sacred Heart in 1917. Sacred Heart High School operated in Templeton until 1959, when it was merged with Kuemper Catholic High School in Carroll. A new school building was built in 1964, and the elementary and junior high grades continued in Templeton until the late 1960's and early 1970's. At that time Sacred Heart merged with the grade schools at Halbur and Roselle to become Holy Trinity School. In 2003, the Holy Trinity system was completely merged into the Kuemper system in Carroll, of which Sacred Heart is a member parish. Though the school is no longer used for educational purposes, the parish continues to be proud of its strong educational heritage. In 2011, a committee formed and began a multi-year process to acquire (by the City) and redevelop the old school into a new fully functional multi-purpose community center.