Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Dubuque, Iowa)

Sacred Heart Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church in Dubuque, Iowa. It is part of the Archdiocese of Dubuque and located at 2215 Windsor Ave. The parish was one of the locations where the movie F.I.S.T. starring Sylvester Stallone was filmed.

The church is located in Dubuque's north end. The church is noted for two distinctive spires which are visible for a number of miles. The spire on the eastern side of the church is over 200 feet tall and it has four large clocks installed. The spire on the western side is about 130 feet tall.

In 1879, Bishop John Hennessy of Dubuque realized that Saint Mary's Church - which was the main German parish for Dubuque, would no longer be enough to serve all the German immigrants in the city as their population continued to grow. He took territory from the northern parts of Saint Mary's parish, and established the new Sacred Heart parish in that area.

A combination church / school building was constructed on land that was purchased for that purpose. That building was just west of the present church. In the later part of the 19th century, the population of Dubuque exploded as the Milwaukee Railroad Shops came to Dubuque. A large number of young German families came to the area in search of jobs at the shops and other employers. Soon the new parish was filled to capacity.

Soon, it was decided to build a new large church. Fridolin Heer, a Dubuque architect who designed the Dubuque County Courthouse, was chosen to draw the plans for the church - which would have a capacity of 1100. Construction was begun in 1887, and was completed in 1888. Bishop Hennessy formally dedicated the church on Palm Sunday, 1888. The old church building was converted into classroom space.

However, the population in the north end continued to grow. Soon the new church was filled to capacity. Within a few years, Bishop Hennessy had to take territory from the western parts of the parish to form Holy Ghost parish. However, the population of the parish continued to grow. So more territory was taken from the northeastern parts of the parish to form Holy Trinity parish. Over time the creation of new parishes, along with movement of families out to the west helped to stabilize the parish.

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