History of Ste. Genevieve Parish:

The people of early Ste. Genevieve were mostly devout (holy) French who had come from Canada & settled first in Kaskaskia. With the threat of the English coming in, the French crossed the Mississippi River to the fertile "Le Grand Champ" (the big field). The parish of Ste. Genevieve was officially established in 1759, the year of the parish's first baptismal records.

A log church served the faithful in Le Grand Champ for nearly 30 years, surviving damage by the flood of 1785.  A new church was ordered to be built on higher ground (present site) around 1793.  By 1831, it was decided the structure was too small and was in need of repair.  A new stone church was completed and consecrated by  Bishop Rosati on November 12, 1837.

47 years later it became obvious that the stone church was too small to serve the growing congregation.  Some thought was given to construct a second church however parishioners decided to keep the parish intact and construct a larger church around the present stone church.

Stonework was begun (for the present church) in March 1876, and the cornerstone was laid April 20, 1876.  The present church was built at a cost of $24,000 with 3/4 of the construction contributed by Mrs. Odile Pratte Valle.  600,000 bricks were used in the construction.  In 1878 the roof was finished and covered with slate.  The stone church, still intact inside the new construction, continued to be used as a place of worship throughout the building process.  The pillars in the present church outline the walls of the old stone church.  The church was blessed on September 29, 1880.

A hexagonal apse and two side altars were added when the rear wall of the church was removed in 1911.  New marble altars were installed at that time.  A beautiful marble baldachin was placed over the main altar (where the tabernacle is today).

Today a 14-foot high cross glistens in the sunlight atop a 193-foot steeple, marking the center of the first permanent European settlement west of the Mississippi River.  The Church of Ste. Genevieve stands as one of the most beautiful temples of worship in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.