The Tradition Begins
It is believed that the first Catholic Mass was offered in Beloit, Kansas in 1871 and within five years, Mass was being offered somewhat regularly by visiting mission priests. These early German settlers were deeply committed to providing a Catholic education for their children. By 1879, under the direction of the first resident pastor, Father John Timphaus, St. John’s elementary school opened with 15 pupils enrolled in grades 1-8.
Miss Adelia Frank served as the first teacher and taught German, reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. The school was a plain frame building and in a short time became so badly weather-beaten that daylight broke through the cracks in the walls. A cast-iron stove provided a bit of comfort from the cold during the winter months.
Mr. Richard Hune served as the school’s teacher from 1880 – 1886. Two Sisters of the Precious Blood from Maria Stein, Ohio, served as teachers from 1886 – 1889. With enrollment reaching 60 students, a new, two-room, frame school was built just east of the present elementary school and opened in the fall of 1886.
Following the departure of the priests of the Congregation of the Precious Blood and the Sisters of the Precious Blood in 1890, three Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kansas, moved to Beloit to serve the school. In response to continued growth in the number of students, a third room was added to the two-room school in 1899 under the direction of Father Michael Heitz.
Continued Growth and Change
Continued growth in enrollment moved Father Heitz and parishioners to develop plans to build the present, native limestone, elementary school. Joseph Marshall, a Topeka architect, and a German craftsman from Ellis County, were hired to draw up plans and supervise the construction of the new $23,000 school building. All segments of the parish were involved beginning with the excavation of the basement in the fall of 1913. Farmers quarried, dressed, and hauled the rock used to build the school, and gave generously of their labor and meager funds. Tools and equipment in the early 1900s were primitive. Imagine quarrying loads of stone with hand tools and hauling stone and sand in horse-drawn wagons over trails and dirt roads. There were no motorized bulldozers and large semi-trucks, no hydraulic lifts or power tools. It was all hard, back-breaking labor. The two-story structure, with a full basement, had four rooms on the first floor ready for students in the fall of 1914.
Once again, parishioners responded to the needs of their children and determined that a high school department should be added to the school. The second floor of the elementary school building was completed for this purpose. The first graduates of St. John’s High School, a class of four, graduated in 1925. The school was accredited by the State Board of Education that same year.
Over the years, the school continued to thrive and served as the site for plays, musicals, basketball programs, and various student choirs. The basement of the school was converted into an up-to-date manual training area in 1940.
With the continued increase of student enrollment at all levels, the need for a separate high school building became evident. Ground breaking for the new, present-day high school took place on February 1, 1951. Interestingly, original plans did not include a gymnasium. Shortly after construction began however, the parish received a notable donation of cash and farm land which made it possible to include the gym. Even though heavy rains during May and June hampered consruction considerably, the building was completed and opened to 88 high school students in the fall of 1952.
For more history information about St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, click here.
Source: “Our Church A Mighty Fortress: The History of St. John the Baptist Parish, Beloit KS 1869-1982,” edited and compiled by Rev. Monsignor John A. Duskie, P.A., J.C.D.