Kearney Catholic High School

Settlement in the Kearney area began in the 1830s as a stopping point on the Oregon Trail. Fort Kearny was established in 1948, and with the Union Pacific Railroads completion at Kearney in 1869, Kearney was founded April 11, 1871. The Burlington Railroad was completed to Kearney in 1872 and Kearney was incorporated in 1873. The first settlers in t... he region and early Catholic families made their living by farming, working in the cotton mill or on the railroad. The Catholic life was difficult because there were few priests and established parishes in easy travel distance. Months or even years would pass without the opportunity to celebrate Mass or receive communion. But with the arrival of the railroads, Mass was offered in Kearney fairly regularly, in an old printing shop and then in a hall over a lumber shop on Central Avenue just south of the railroad tracks. Before a parish was established, priests came from Omaha, Grand Island and Columbus. On June 1, 1881 Bishop James OConnor purchased property in south Kearney, on the east side of Avenue A between 18th and 19th streets. That same year Father P.J. Boyle was appointed the first resident pastor for Kearney. He built the first rectory in 1883 and the first church was built around that time. In 1885 Father Nicholas Stoltz arrived as pastor. From its beginning as a mission parish, soon the parish extended to all of Buffalo County and parts of Dawson and Custer counties. In 1884 property was purchased at 26th Street and Sixth Avenue and work was begun on a new church under Father Hork. Lumber from the old church was recycled to build this new church and a nearby rectory. Times were difficult financially in the 1880s past the turn of the century but a vision for a beautiful and permanent St. James church remained in the pastors and parishioners prayers. In 1905 Father F.J. McCarthy purchased a Presbyterian church on the northwest corner of First Avenue and 24th Street, and in 1909 Father Michael Daly planned to build a new church large enough for 500 people, ...Read More