Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Madison, Indiana |
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St. Michael the Archangel Church |
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At the eastern end of Third Street pressed against the bluffs that overlook and enclose historic Madison is St. Michael the Archangel Church. Built between 1838 and 1839, this simple Gothic Revival design house of worship is the second oldest Catholic church in Indiana. The construction material for the church is said to have come from the great amount of stone removed during the building of the Madison-Indianapolis Railroad. Many of the same men working on the railroad incline were part of the founding congregation. Most were Irish or German immigrants. Congregation members included local architect Francis Costigan and William Griffin, the Irish immigrant who completed the construction of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Incline.
The south part of the church is the oldest. In 1865, the church’s nave was extended 20 feet to the north. In order to do this without disruption to the church’s interior, much of the addition is subterranean so that the stained-glass window high in the apse is just a few feet above grade on the exterior. The most prominent architectural detail of the church’s interior is its ogee-arch, or “open book,” ceiling.
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