St. Augustine Church (Louisville, KY)
(start date: 1785 - end date: 1967)The first African American Catholics were slaves who arrived in Kentucky with settlers from Maryland in 1785. In 1869, Father John L. Spalding was appointed to organize African American Catholics in Louisville, KY. Worship was held in the basement burial crypt of the Cathedral of the Assumption.
By 1870, Father Spalding had raised enough money for to build a new church, St. Augustine, on Broadway between 14th and 15th Streets. St. Augustine is the oldest African American Catholic church in Louisville; when it opened in 1870, it was one of six in the United States.
St. Augustine School opened in 1921; the name later changed to Catholic Colored High School and then changed again to Catholic High in the 1940s. The elementary school closed in 1967, and the high school closed in 1958.
The present St. Augustine Church, dedicated in 1912, is located at 1310 W. Broadway.
For more see Centennial 1870-1970: St. Augustine Church, 1310 Broadway, Louisville; B. Pike, "Long-closed school not forgotten," The Courier-Journal, 2/28/1999; S. Edelen, "Looking Back; 135-year-old St. Augustine plans museum,"The Courier-Journal, 1/26/2005; St. Augustine, Louisville" on the Archdiocese of Louisville website; "st. augustine church: on The Record Newspaper website; and "Louisville's historic black Catholic parish celebrates 150 years" at the WHAS11.com website.