The Ups and Downs of St. Rose of the Prairie

When the St. Rose parish built a new, larger Catholic church in Cuba City in 1895, the former house of worship was moved from its original location at the St. Rose Cemetery, north of town, to Clay Street in Cuba City, just off of Main. The wooden church had been the parish's second, built in 1861. A Telegraph Herald article (April 26, 1970) claims it was the last church designed by the Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli, who had founded the St. Rose parish ten years earlier.

Photo credit: Ray Barth, 1966.

Once in its new location, the old church was used for storage and fell into disrepair over the years. When it was faced with the threat of demolition, money was raised to move the structure to Benton, near Father Mazzuchelli's grave. The church was dismantled in 1966 to make room for a neighboring business's expansion and was partially rebuilt in Benton in 1972. The Rev. L. C. Ihm, of Shullsburg, spearheaded the initial fundraising to save the church, and Ray Swift, of Benton, was integral in the attempt to rebuild the structure.

Image from a Telegraph Herald article by Ray Barth, published April 26, 1970.

Image from a Telegraph Herald article by Ray Barth, published November 23, 1972.

This is all the information I have on the church's reconstruction, so I hope someone else know the rest of the story!