About Us:

Knights of Columbus, the Verde Council# 2493, serves the Immaculate Conception Parish in Cottonwood and St. Frances Cabrini Church in Camp Verde and our members faithfully belong to one of these parishes. Our council has served these parishes for over 82 years. We started in Jerome as the Verde Council on July 8,1923. Later the council moved to St. Cecilia's in Clarkdale but now we are located in Cottonwood.

History:

The first Catholic Church started in the Verde Valley was The Holy Family Catholic Church in Jerome Arizona in 1887. The Town of Jerome was founded in 1876. Our council was founded in Jerome on July 8, 1923. Then as the mining towns grew in size, another church was founded in Clarkdale in in 1924 called St. Celica's Catholic Mission Church. Then again in 1930 our church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish was founded in Cottonwood. St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church was built in 1950 and is located in Camp Verde. Our council serves both parishes.

In 2002, we moved to our new located on Bill Grey Road and Hwy 89A. Hopefully soon we will begin to bring our new church and later a Catholic School with grades of 1st through 12th. There is a Catholic cemetery next door to us is called the All Souls Cemetery. This year in July 2006, our council will present Father David Kelash our Chaplin and Pastor, a check for $20,000.00 to buy a stain glass window as part of the new building fund. These windows were part of a beautiful church in Philadelphia that was built in 1908 and later closed. Click on the photos for an enlarged view.