When Belle Plaine was founded in 1854, the nearest Catholic church
was in Shakopee. Fr. Cornelius Wittman, OSB, would come from
Shakopee several times a year and celebrate Mass in one of the homes
of the Catholic Belle Plaine residents. In 1860, the Belle Plaine Catholics
built a church of their own, which they named in honor of St. Martin.
Later, the church was renamed Sacred Heart Church. A few years later,
in 1868, the German Catholics of Belle Plaine started building their own
church, Sts. Peter and Paul, leaving Sacred Heart to the Irish Catholics.
In 1972, the two parishes merged under a new name—Our Lady of the
Prairie—and the German and Irish Catholics worshiped together once
again. Today, Our Lady of the Prairie continues to serve the Belle Plaine
community, with a vibrant parish school that’s more than 150 years old.
