Apple Creek museum showcases religious, cultural history of southernmost county of the archdiocese
As a child, Mary Jane Buchheit loved serving as a flower girl in the elaborate Corpus Christi processions of St. Joseph Parish in Apple Creek.
“We got to wear our white first Communion dresses, and we carried a basket with fresh flower petals,” Buchheit said. “When we got to each altar, they would fill our baskets again with flower petals, and we would strew them in front of the procession where the Blessed Sacrament was carried. That’s how special the Blessed Sacrament was.”
Buchheit, a lifelong parishioner of St. Joseph, recalled these memories as she stopped in front of a display in the parish’s Catholic Heritage Center & Museum: ornate altar decorations used on various altars during the Corpus Christi processions; a band uniform worn by a member of the brass band that accompanied the processions; and photos of the events, dated in the 1920s-50s.
The parishes of St. Joseph and nearby St. Maurus in Biehle established the Catholic Heritage Center & Museum about eight years ago. Housed in the former St. Joseph School building, the museum features items from the Apple Creek and Biehle churches and families from the past nearly 200 years. Visitors can step into the museum and back in time, exploring the religious and cultural history of the area through the artifacts on display
St. Joseph Parish, located on the southeastern border of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was established in 1828 to serve a largely immigrant community from Germany. St. Maurus Parish followed in 1870. The original St. Joseph Church was a log building, which was replaced with a stone church 12 years later; the current brick church was completed in 1884.
Bill Ernst, who grew up in St. Maurus Parish and has served as the organist at St. Joseph Parish since 1973, helped kickstart the museum by donating his own extended family’s collection of religious items and historical farm equipment. As more and more parishioners heard about the museum project, they started contributing their own religious heirloom items and pieces of the parishes’ history.
“People were realizing, hey, this is pretty cool, let me bring some stuff I’ve got — why not share it with the world?” Ernst said.
The museum is divided into two rooms, the Religious Heritage Room and the Family Heritage Room. One of Ernst’s favorite items in the religious room is a Roman Missal from 1899, used by longtime pastor Father Francis Krieger while celebrating Mass. The artifacts also include 100-year-old priestly vestments from St. Mary’s of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville; statues and crucifixes used in the churches through the years and from personal collections; an early 20th-century pump organ; and shelves of photos of the church buildings, sacraments and school events, among many other items.
“A lot of this came from Catholic families in these towns,” Buchheit said. “They were very religious people, and they really honored their priests.”
There are also sections dedicated to notable priests of the parishes, as well as priests of the archdiocese who grew up in the area, like cousins Msgr. Jerome Buchheit and Msgr. Richard Buchheit. Msgr. Jerome Buchheit served as a priest for 70 years before his death in 2021.
Next door, the Family Heritage Room features historical farm equipment from Ernst’s family farm; handmade blacksmithing tools; a pump used to pump water from a creek up to the parish rectory; costumes from the “Hee-Haw Show”
put on by parishioners to raise money for St. Joseph School; military uniforms worn by veterans of the parish over the last century; and an assortment of ice skates, wooden shoes, typewriters and other family heirlooms to transport visitors back in time.
“The people of the area can trace their roots back to those early pioneers, and the museum helps them to preserve this heritage for future generations,” said Father Patrick Christopher, pastor of St. Joseph and St. Maurus parishes.
The museum has been a big hit with members of St. Joseph and St. Maurus, Ernst said, who have enjoyed exploring the museum shelves to find names and items they recognize. Ernst also hopes that the museum will help visitors learn about the rich history of the area — which includes some of the earliest activity in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Bishop William Louis Valentine DuBourg celebrated his first Mass in the Missouri Territory near the place the Apple Creek flows into the Mississippi River.
“This isn’t just important to Apple Creek and Biehle — a lot of the history of the archdiocese can be found here,” Ernst said.
>> Visit the Catholic Heritage Center & Museum
138 St. Joseph Lane, Apple Creek, MO 63755
Tours are available by appointment and during St. Joseph Parish events. To schedule a tour, call the parish office at (573) 788-2330. Admission is free; donations accepted.
