The Catholic Church Celebrates 100 Years in Harlan County

On Sunday, September 8th, 2013 we celebrated 100 years of the Catholic Church in Harlan County Kentucky. The Celebration Mass began shortly after 11:00 A.M. at Church of the Resurrection in Lynch with the Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer, Bishop of Lexington as our Principal Celebrant. He was joined on the alter with his Con-celebrants, Rev. Mani George, MC; Rev. Jay Von Handorf; Rev. Edward Brienz; Rev. Santosh Madanu, HGN and Rev. Steve Roberts. Deacon Marco Rajkovich assisted and proclaimed the gospel. 

 In his homily, Bishop Gainer reminded us of the importance of “family” and gave a brief history of how the Catholic Church came to be in Harlan County. The first Catholic Church in Harlan County, St. Mary Mission, was built in 1913 on the left bank of the Maggard Creek in Benham. At that time, Harlan County was the scene of great coal mining activity. The boom in the coal industry brought many Catholic immigrants, mostly Hungarian, Italian and Slavic, to the Tri-City area and the need for a Catholic Church was evident. The Wisconsin Steel Company, located at the end of the Black Mountain Railroad in Benham, donated a church lot and erected a 20′x40′ frame church. The Catholic Church Extension Society donated the altar. The seating capacity was approximately 100. On October 30, 1913, Bishop Maes, Bishop of Covington, visited Harlan County and blessed the new church under the patronage of the Blessed Mother. St. Mary Mission was attached to the Jellico Mission Center, which served Whitley County KY, and Campbell County Tennessee. 

These missions were under the care of the Benedictine Fathers of Cullman, Alabama. Mass was offered at St. Mary’s once a month. Later, Father Celestine, OSB, a Benedictine serving in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, took charge of the Mission. In 1917, St. Mary Mission received its first resident pastor, Father Jerome Lawrence. It remained open through 1919. The Mission stood empty until being torn down to make way for a coal sluice in the mid 1930′s. Catholic immigrants continued to arrive in the Tri-City area with the opening of the Lynch coal camp in 1917. Plans to build a larger church in Lynch, KY, began immediately. Holy Trinity Church was established in 1948. Stay tuned. Later this month, I will be providing a history of the the three Catholic Churches in Harlan. I’ve posted several photos of the Celebration Mass on our church website at www.harlan.cdlex.org