St Anthony Catholic Church

St. Anthony Parish was founded in 1909, yet no permanent place of worship was established until 1911. Under the direction of Father Max Speckmeier, the first church of St. Anthony was constructed in Linton at the same site of the current church. The church was a small wood-frame structure measuring 40 feet by 60 feet. Records show that the first mass to be served in the newly built church was in January 1912.

In 1915, every family that was a member of St. Anthony’s Parish donated $100 and three days’ labor to build a rectory. Father Andrew Kolbeck, O.S.B became St. Anthony’s first resident priest as soon as the construction was finished. In 1915-1916 the parish acquired a tract of land north of town for a cemetery.

By the early 1920s the Catholic community of Linton consisted of over 120 families and the need for a larger church grew. Plans for the new church were drawn up at the beginning of 1925 and work on the new church began on August 12 of that year. The old church was moved to the rear of the block as plans for the new church were in the making. When the new church was finished in October 1926, it was sold and moved across the street and turned into a private residence.

The new church measured 122.5 feet by 46 feet. It cost approximately $45,000 to build. In 2001, an architect estimated that to build the church today, it would cost $2.4 million dollars. A building of this size required continual beautifying and updating. Throughout the years, the church has undergone many improvements such as hanging fans, roof maintenance, new carpeting, refinishing the pews and kneelers, plastering walls, sandblasting, and landscaping projects.

Today St. Anthony’s Parish serves the Catholic community of Linton as well as in St. Kathrine Catholic Church in Braddock and St. Pail Catholic Church in Hazelton.

Sources:

I. "St. Anthony Catholic Church celebrates its centennial; Bishop Zipfel gives homily." Germans from Russia Heritage Collection. Accessed July 30, 2017. https://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/articles/newspapers/news/catholiccentennial.html.

II. "St. Anthony Catholic Church." St. Anthony Catholic Church. Accessed July 30, 2017. https://stanthonylinton.com/.

III. Woods, Ellen, and Euvagh Wenzel. Emmons County history : compiled for the bicentennial, 1976. Linton, ND: Emmons County Historical Society, 1976.