[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E676-E677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE 175TH ANNIVERSARY OF SACRED HEART PARISH IN OSAGE COUNTY, 
                                   MO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BLAINE LUETKEMEYER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 16, 2013

  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 175th 
anniversary of Sacred Heart Parish. I am proud to recognize one of the 
state's most historically rich Catholic communities, the Parishioners 
and Reverend Philip Niekamp of Sacred Heart of Rich Fountain in Osage 
County on Sunday May 26, 2013.
   The Parish of the Sacred Heart in Rich Fountain traces its roots 
back to May 16, 1838, when the very first mass was celebrated by Father 
Ferdinand Helias; S.J., in the home of the John T. Struempf family at 
Struempf's Settlement. Father Helias nurtured this community for 10 
years.
   The town gets its name from a clear spring that was located nearby. 
During its early years Rich Fountain became known as Missouri's Bavaria 
due to the fact that some 25 Bavarian families sought to begin new 
lives here. Soon after, a number of families from Westfalen and the 
Rhineland Provinces of Germany joined them in the heart of the Osage 
River valley.
   Sacred Heart's diverse group of parishioners has always been united 
by a faith in our creator and a strong community spirit.
   Key events in the history of the Sacred Heart Parish include the 
construction of the limestone church of the Sacred Heart in 1879 and 
the creation of the rectory in 1892, both of which were placed on the 
National Register of Historic Sites in 1982.
   Resting on a slope of a hill these enormous buildings of native 
limestone have earned the village the title ``Oberammergau of Osage 
County.''

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