Alone, cold, abandoned. Will be torn down when weather allows. To be left undisturbed: The cemetery behind the church. Image: Steve Lunde
Unlike 1870s, other churches now a quick drive away
WILSON, Minn. – The Immaculate Conception church, 10 miles up State Highway 43 from Winona, is locked up for winter and also forever. The 150-year-old church, once a vibrant worshipping magnet for rural Catholics, awaits the wrecking ball come spring. The bishop of the Winona-Rochester Diocese, Robert Barron, decided this fall that declining attendance couldn’t support the church anymore. It became the latest of a dozen rural Catholic churches in southern Minnesota to close, including those in Elba, Harmony, Houston and Minneiska. In its final days, the Wilson church still stands as a sturdy reminder cof an earlier era — its brick walls solid and its steeple capped by a gilded cross. The church was founded in 1874 and rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1935.
Why raze?
As with other rural churches closed in recent years, the Diocese considered selling the Wilson church. The decision in the end, said Bishop Barron, was that the site’s narrowness precluded a new driveway without an easement that could be problematic to obtain. Also, the bishop said, some repurposed uses could detract from the solemnity appropriate for the graveyard next to the church.