St. Peter's Catholic Church (Rensselaer, Missouri)

St. Peter's Catholic Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Southwest of Rensselaer on Route 2, near Rensselaer, Missouri
Coordinates	39°37′11″N91°36′14″W / 39.61972°N 91.60389°W / 39.61972; -91.60389
Area	2.5 acres (1.0 ha)
Built	1862
Built by	Kielty, Rev. Francis M.; Hogan, Martin
NRHP reference No.	80002392 [1]
Added to NRHP	November 14, 1980

St. Peter's Catholic Church, also known as Brush Creek Church, is a historic Catholic church near Rensselaer, Ralls County, Missouri.

After an original building constructed in 1845, the current church was built about 1862, and is a one-story, rectangular limestone building with limestone and sandstone ornamentation. It is topped by a gable roof with belfry.It features lancet windows and has a frame two-room addition sheathed in weatherboard. ^{[2] : 2}

The church is where Augustus Tolton, the first openly African-American Catholic priest, was baptized; he has since been put on the path to sainthood. ^[3] The church was closed in 1968, reduced to the status of a chapel, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. ^{[1] [4]} A memorial to the enslaved buried in the church's cemetery was blessed in 2025. ^{[4] [5]}

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. Janice R. Cameron, Thomas Miskell, Fr. John Groner, and James M. Denny (June 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: St. Peter's Catholic Church" (PDF). Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2017-02-01. (includes 5 photographs from 1979)
3. Poletti, Mary (January 24, 2011). "Grant, sainthood cause drive preservation of historic Ralls County church". Quincy Herald-Whig . Quincy, Illinois. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
4. "Jubilee Year of Hope Passport | Diocese of Jefferson City". diojeffcity.org. 2025-02-14. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
5. Nies, Jay (2025-04-30). "Jubilee pilgrims with Chicago bishop visit places of Fr. Tolton's Baptism, burial". The Catholic Missourian. Retrieved 2025-05-24.