Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic parish church of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis located in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. It was built on the east bank of the Mississippi River in today's Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood; it is the oldest continuously used church building in the city and is part of the St. Anthony Falls Historic District.HistoryThe oldest church building in Minneapolis, Our Lady of Lourdes has been in continuous use since the mid-19th century. The First Universalist Society of St. Anthony erected the building in Greek Revival style as a meeting hall between 1854 and 1857 as the First Universalist Church where they worshipped until 1877. A congregation of Catholic French Canadians acquired the church in 1877 and named it in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary who Catholics believed had recently appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in France as Our Lady of Lourdes. One of many churches throughout the world named for the appearances in Lourdes, Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis was the first in the U.S. with this name. The Catholic parish made significant additions to the building between 1880–83, adding a transept, apse and front bell tower with three steeples; a front vestibule was added in 1914.