Fall 2022 Hometown Messenger

A Look Back

In pictures of early Shakopee, it is not unusual to see the distinct stee ple of St Mark’s Catholic Church The church has been a long-stand ing fixture in Shakopee and is a part of the city’s significant history When early German settlers arrived in Shakopee in the mid-1800s, they wanted to establish a German Catholic parish The Diocese of St Paul helped them form a parish and encouraged them to build a church In 1856 the original church was built A year later, Benedictine priests arrived to run the young parish Inter estingly, this benediction association led the church to be a temporary site of St John’s University when a legal land dispute occurred in Col legeville, MN The foundation of the college and abbey was laid, and with it, six feet of walls; however, when the land dispute was won by the Benedictines in Collegeville, the temporary site was abandoned

Later, with the outbreak of the Dakota War of 1862, the vacant site was used by settlers as a refuge Armed with only a canon, the settlers were preparedbut endedupnot using it; the conflict never reachedShakopee Having outgrown the original church, parishioners decided to build a bigger one on the foundation left from the temporary abbey site In 1868, the St Mark’s Catholic Church used today was constructed on the corner of Atwood and Fourth Street The steeple was added twenty years later in 1888 St Mark’s is most noted for its beautiful stained glass windows com missioned by Australian Emperor Franz Josef in 1922 and ornate altars carved by local woodworker Franz Xavier Hirscher, one of the town’s original settlers who arrived in Shakopee in 1855 Franz Xavier worked on the altars from 1888 to 1890, and having lost his eyesight from cataracts, he finished carving the altars by touch In August 2005, a fire broke out in the center of the church The fire was caused by spontaneous combustion of rags used to refinish the wood pews during a renovation The church suffered $3 5 million in damages The fire was contained and damaged the wood floor in front of the main altar and a crawl space below it However, the smoke damage was significant Luckily, the stained glass windows were saved and one of the side altars that was damaged was rebuilt by local carpenter Mike Menke In 2013, and after much debate, St Mark’s merged with St Mary’s Catholic Church and Saint Mary of the Purification (Marystown) and became Saints Joachim and Anne

The view of St Marks Church from Atwood Street Photos courtesy of Shakopee Heritage Society

An overhead view of St Marks Church and its steeple in 1888

Yard waste service ending in November Yard waste service offered by the city’s garbage hauler, Dick’s Sanita tion (DSI), will end in mid-November, weather permitting

When in doubt, visit www.ShakopeeMN.gov/garbageandrecycling for answers to common questions To stay up to date on service updates, holiday schedules, billing and more, download the Dick’s Sanitation app in the Google Play store or App Store

City of Shakopee residents have the option of paying an additional fee for DSI’s seasonal yard waste service frommid-April to mid-November For those who don’t use the seasonal service, on-call yard waste ser vice is also available until November for $3 50 per compostable bag up to five bags per week DSI also offers Christmas tree removal during the first two full weeks of January Christmas tree removal is not included in the seasonal yard waste base rate Residents must call DSI at 952-469-2239 or email Shakopee@dickssanitation.com one day prior to their regular service day to schedule a tree pickup

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