St. Peter's Church, Cemetery, and School
St. Peter's Church ~ 1899
On July 8, 1899 the German Catholics of Dumont held a meeting to discuss building a Church and permission was granted by the Diocese of St. Cloud. The name was to be St. Boniface Church. The people of the parish agreed to make the foundation themselves and a contract for the building was given for $4150.00, with the brick laying to happen later.
On January 6, 1900, they held their first Mass. Fr. Gumper who was the Pastor at St. Patrick's Church in Collis would have the new Dumont Church as a mission. He would have one High Mass and one Low Mass each month as well as teaching the children catechism.
On July 11, 1900 the Church was blessed and the name of
St. Peter was given to the new Church.
The brick laying was completed by November 1901 at a cost of $200.00 with all of the bricks and material being furnished by the parish.
In May of 1902 the parishioners decided to build a rectory.
On January 2, 1905 the parish books showed a profit of $117.36.
There were no parish records kept from 1905 to 1942.
However it was noted that in 1912 the parish was $45.89 in debt, so it was decided to delay any improvements until times got better.
There were several priests that served the parish over the years.
In 1946 the parish became debt free and the held a 13 hour devotion and the next day, Thanksgiving Day, they had a Solemn High Mass and a parish dinner, since they had so much to be thankful for.
In 1960 the sanctuary was remodeled, by extending the altar and placing it closer to and also facing the congregation. The communion rail was taken out and the Church was carpeted for the first time.
St. Peter's Cemetery ~ 1902
St. Peter's Cemetery is located on the southeast side of Dumont.
People who were members of St. Peter's Church are allowed
to buy a grave and have their burial at the cemetery.
There are individual graves and lots of four that
are available for purchase.
Call the Ave Maria Church office at 320-563-4421 for more information
or email at contact@avemariawheaton.org
St. Peter's Catholic School ~ 1918
In 1917 plans for building a school started and
opened in 1918 under the Sisters of Saint Benedict, with 52 students.
It offered classes for students from first through eighth grade.
After 50 years of operation, the school was closed on May 31, 1968.
The number of religious teachers became more scarce
and cost of operating a school increased, leading to the
closure of many parochial schools.
It continued to be used for religious education classes into the early 1980's. Eventually not being used and demolished on October 31, 1989.