History

The first Catholic Church in Savanna was the original public school building located on the corner of Third and Van Buren Streets. It was purchased in November 1870. In 1880, it was sold and Turner Hall, located on the corner of Third and Quincy Streets, was purchased. In that same year, Savanna received its first resident pastor, Fr. George Ratz, a Lutheran convert and native of Freeport. He built a rectory on land adjacent to the church and bought four acres in the Chestnut Park area of town for a cemetery.

Fr. Francis J. Antl became pastor in May 1884. He was remembered most for his holiness and his extra-ordinary love for his people. He immediately built a school and entrusted it to Religious Sisters. Knowing where the town would grow, in 1896 he started to build the present Church, on the property at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Fifth Street. In spite of just a few members and the scarcity of money, the church was finished and it opened with a solemn Mass on August 27, 1899. He then built a rectory. Fr. Antl died in May, 1926 after serving forty two years. Till this time, we still try to gather more official testimonies of his Christian and priestly exemplary life.