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The church was commissioned by Msgr. Michael Heitz and designed by architect Joseph Marshall. St. John’s Church is evidence of the pioneer spirit and determination of the many ethnic groups that built this country.  Visitors are amazed to find “Old World” architecture and art in the heart of Kansas. 

Foundation work began in the fall of 1900 and the cornerstone laying and blessing by Bishop Cunningham was on June 4, 1901.  Completed in 1904, the church was built around the old church in the form of a Latin cross. 

In the Beginning

It is believed that the first Catholic Mass was offered in Beloit, Kansas, in 1871. By 1876, Mass was being offered somewhat regularly by visiting mission priests and the Catholic Cemetery was blessed by Bishop Louis M. Fink in September of that year.

The first resident priest in Beloit, Father John Timphaus, was appointed in 1877 and served between 25 and 30 families. Father Timphaus soon found that the second-story hall where Mass was being held was not adequate for his growing congregation. The first Catholic Church in Beloit was completed in 1878 followed by the opening of a parochial school for grades one through eight in the fall of 1879, staffed with one teacher and 15 students enrolled.

The Holy See established the Roman Catholic Diocese of Concordia on August 2, 1887, with Most Reverend Richard Scannell serving as the first Bishop. The diocese was renamed the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina in 1944.

Dreams Require Sacrifice

When Monsignor Michael Heitz was appointed pastor of St. John’s in 1898, he found a small stone church with bulging walls held together by a steel rod. Within a year after his arrival, he announced plans for a new church to serve the needs of the current congregation and to prepare for future growth. Joseph Marshall, a Topeka, Kansas, architect, was acquired to bring Monsignor Heitz’ dream of a church, modeled after the Romanesque Church of St. Richard in his native France, to a reality.

All segments of the parish were enlisted for participation in the mammoth construction project which extended over a period of four years. Tools and equipment in the early 1900s were primitive resulting in hard, back-breaking labor for all involved. Thousands of loads of limestone was quarried by hand and hauled, along with sand, in horse-drawn wagons over trails and dirt roads.

Work began on the foundation, built around the old church, in early October 1900, with Bishop John F. Cunningham of Concordia blessing the site and laying the corner stone on June 4, 1901. In 1904, Monsignor Heitz’ vision and leadership resulted in the completion of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Monsignor Heitz led a parish of mostly German and Irish descendants in a united effort that produced what they first thought impossible.

St. John’s was the first church in the United States built with flying buttresses and a ceiling entirely made of stone. It was, at the time, the largest church west of the Mississippi River. In 1975, the church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Continued Growth

Growth continued and again, under the leadership of Monsignor Heitz, plans were drawn for the present convent located northwest of the church, with construction completed in 1911. Construction of the present grade school followed in 1913-14. St. John’s High School opened in 1920 with classes held in the grade school, then moved to the current high school/gymnasium structure in 1951.

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.