The three churches built at Wexford remind me of the bedtime story depicting the trials and

tribulations of the three little pigs. The first pig built a house of straw which promptly blew apart

when the big bad wolf arrived huffing and puffing the straw house apart. The first log church at

Wexford lacked the size needed to accommodate the large, growing population of the parish and

soon needed to be replaced with a larger church. The second pig built a house of wood, which

again was no match for the big bad wolf, who huffed and puffed, blowing the wooden house

down. The congregation at Wexford built the second church from wooden lumber but failed to

secure the floor foundation, resulting in the entire congregation landing in the basement when the

floor collapsed during an extremely crowded Sunday Mass. The third pig built his house of stone

and brick and no matter how hard the wolf huffed and puffed the house stood firm. Similarly, the

third church at Wexford was built of natural limestone and has stood the test of time,

withstanding all of nature’s wind and weather. Additionally, the limestone church was built to

accommodate a much larger flock of worshipers.

The early settlers at Wexford decided to build their third church from locally quarried limestone.

Ancient civilizations used limestone blocks to build some of the most famous structures in

history. Five of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World contained limestone in their

construction process. These magnificent building included: 1) the Egyptian Great Pyramids at

Giza, 2) the walls in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 3) the Temple of Artemis (Greek) or

Diana (Roman) at Ephesus, 4) the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Asia Minor, and 5) the Pharos

of Alexandria lighthouse built off the coast of Egypt.

In Egypt, limestone was the primary material used in the pyramids. The Great Pyramid of Giza

features massive limestone bricks, demonstrating their sturdiness over time. The Greeks used

limestone in temples and theaters. They appreciated limestone’s ability to be carved into detailed

designs. Many Greek columns and statues were made from limestone. In Rome, limestone

played a key role in architecture with approximately 80% of all the roman buildings

incorporating limestone. Because of its availability and durability, limestone was utilized in the

construction of many iconic structures including: the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the aqueducts

that supplied water to the cities, and Roman roads for travel. Most of the castles, cathedrals, and

churches built in Europe use limestone in their constructions. As well as the structural use of

limestone, most of the ancient mortar mixtures consisted of crushed, burnt, and mixed limestone

that mimicked the properties of cement.

In the America’s, the Inca, Aztec, and Mayan civilizations constructed temples and pyramids out

of stone from local quarries using tools made of flint and obsidian. Limestone was the major

construction material in many parts of their temples. Limestone remains pliable enough to be

worked with stone tools during the quarrying process and only hardens once removed from its

bed. Later improvements in quarrying techniques by skilled masons reduced the necessity for

this mortar as the stones were shaped to perfectly fit together.

Limestone has played a significant role in the construction of many temples and large

structures in China. One of the most notable features of the Great Wall of China constructed

during the Ming Dynasty is the use of dolomitic and calcium lime mortars with minimal

aggregates to hold the stones together. Limestone was a significant material used in the

construction of many temples in India, including the Gopal Krishna temple. India utilized 20

different types of limestone on temples and building. Traditional Rajashan architecture is

magnificently carved from yellow limestone.

In the mid to late 1830’s, Father Samuel Mazzuchelli (or Michael Kelly for the Irish) was

instrumental in the construction of three limestone churches along the Mississippi River

including St. Raphael’s Cathedral at Dubuque, IA, St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church in Prairie du

Chien, WI, and St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Davenport, IA. To the Irish, Michael Kelly was

much easier to say than Mazzuchelli.

Masons, working with rock, have a deep love for constructing wonderful buildings and

monuments made of stones that often last for centuries. The ancient Egyptians built the

pyramids using sharp edged stone tools and large hammer stones. The ancient stonemasons used

pegs and strings to achieve a flat straight surface on the stones top, bottom, and sides by hitting

and grinding the stone with different sized hammer stones.

Lucky for the early settlers at Wexford, some of the Irish immigrants were masons who brought

with them the traditions and skills of quarrying and working with different types of rock. Other

newcomers to the Wexford community were involved in the construction of limestone buildings

in other parts of the country.

In northeast Iowa, most of the limestone rock quarries contain galena limestone. Limestone is a

sedimentary rock that is formed from the layering of formerly living organisms such as coral and

seashells. Limestone has a wide range of colors from bone white through tan to a dark grayish

hue. One unique characteristic of limestone is the material is soft relative to other rocks, with a

level of hardness near 3 on the Mohs scale. When first removed from the ground limestone is

soft and chalky, which makes drilling, forming, and dressing much easier for the masons. Once

exposed to air limestone begins to harden, making the stone an excellent material for buildings.

The parish was overjoyed to find large quantities of high-quality limestone in the Wexford area

suitable for construction and excellent to use in building a church that, when finished, would be

beautiful to the eye of the beholder.