Our History
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Saint Francis de Sales Church
Saint Francis de Sales Church, also called St. Pius from 1820 to 1932, was established in 1793 by faithful Catholic pioneers migrating from political and religious strife in Maryland. The parishioners of St. Francis celebrated the first mass in the State on Dec. 1, 1793. The rural church also claimed Fr. Stephen Theodore Badin the FIRST priest ordained in the United States, as its resident pastor until 1795.
During the early 1800's, the Dominicans began the construction on the current church structure, which still serves the congregation of St Francis. Reflecting older times, the kneelers still stretch across the front of the church and doors to the pews remain as symbols of bygone traditions of the church.
At one time, the church fell in membership to as few as two families, but now more than 60 families call St. Francis home and faithfully attend Mass there. Weekly masses are held each Saturday evening.
St. Francis is listed in the National Historical Record. The only Catholic cemetery in Scott County is located on the church property across the highway from the church. The St. Francis Cemetery dates back to the late 1790's and holds the remains of many of the early Catholic residents of the area. Also buried there is Revolutionary war soldier Bennett Greenwill. Two priests are buried there as well. Located in a separate gated section on the St. Francis lawn is a burial area for the nuns who served the church. Also in this area are the remains of the nuns moved from the Cardome property when it was sold.
St. John the Evangelist Church
The history of St. John Parish in Georgetown has dovetailed with that of St. Francis Parish at White Sulphur.
Shortly after the settlement of the early Catholic pioneers at the present site in White Sulphur, some of them soon found their way to a little village called Lebanon, as the site of present-day Georgetown was known from about 1784 to 1790. It then became an incorporated township receiving the name of Georgetown.
Now the county seat of Scott County, the little town became the scene of a number of mills and industries and underwent considerable growth. The Catholic missionaries, on their circuit from White Sulphur to Lexington and Frankfort, also stopped in Georgetown. A family of prominence in the early history of Catholicism at Georgetown was that of George Algair. Father Francis P. Kenrick, when stationed at St. Pius Parish, offered Mass at the Algair home as early as 1827 for the few Catholics in the town and the surrounding neighborhood. By 1850, the Algair home was the regular mission station in the town.
In 1869, the Catholics of Georgetown purchased a brick Presbyterian Church building, located on the east side of South Broadway, a few hundred feet south of Main Street. This first church received its furnishings from a church in Newport. It was dedicated under the patronage of St. John. At that time, Rev. John Bowe was the pastor of this small but promising congregation. Church records state that Fr. Bowe was in charge of the Georgetown parish from December, 1868 until the end of 1872. Fifty families made up the congregation at that time. Shortly thereafter, the pastor's residence was transferred to Georgetown. In 1879, the present location was purchased and in 1895 the church was built.
Over 100 years since building the Main Street church, St. John and Francis Catholic Parish boasts over 600 families. Our Strategic Planning Committee is currently researching options for our current as well as other facilities to accommodate the needs of our expanding parish and school.
Cardome Renaissance Centre
As Ss. Francis and John enters into the future, the parish has plans to move to the property known as Cardome, one of the oldest and most historic properties in Scott County. We currently hold many of our parish events at Cardome and enjoy the great space that it offers our community!
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The word “Cardome” comes from the Latin “Cara Domas,” meaning dear home.
The first man to set foot on this property was Colonel John Floyd in June of 1774. For his military service he was granted by the State of Virginia a total of 1000 acres, which included the Cardome property.
By the early 1800s the property had come into the possession of one of Kentucky’s most prominent families, the Bradfords, who built the first structure on the property in 1821. The property then came into the possession of James F. Robinson, who was the Kentucky Federal Governor during the American Civil War. He built an elegant mansion in what would have been the center of the current buildings but, unfortunately, the mansion burned down in 1986.
The Robinson heirs sold the property to the Sisters of Visitation, an order of cloistered nuns, in 1896. Here they founded an academy for girls that became one of the most prestigious schools of its type in Kentucky. Due to a variety of circumstances, though, enrollment began to decline and the academy was forced to close in 1969. When the visitation community disbanded in 1987, the property was sold to Community Building Inc., a non-profit organization formed to administer a million dollar gift from Toyota for the purpose of establishing a community center for the people of Georgetown.
Our future plans are to move our existing St. John School to the Cardome Property in the next two years, with further plans in the future to build a new Church on Cardome's property.