Immaculate Conception Church, built in 1898, has a rich history and steadfast future. In the late 1890’s, approximately twenty-five Catholic families lived in Blanchardville but had no church of their own, attending Mass in nearby churches. Challenging the idea that there weren’t enough people to support a church, Hollandale Pastor Fr. Condon offered Mass at the Blanchard Hall on October 11, 1896 and drew a large crowd. A fund was established by John Brew and John Coffey in the amount of $2,000.00; and two years later, in 1898, a white frame structure with Gothic interior was built.

In 1920, Immaculate Conception became a parish with Fr. John McMahon as its first Pastor and St. Michael’s Church at Yellowstone Lake included as a mission. Over the years, several priests lived in the parish house and served the parish until the late 1960’s when Immaculate Conception became a mission to St. Joseph’s Church in Argyle. Approximately ten years later, Immaculate Conception was transferred to be a mission to St. Patrick’s Church Hollandale.

By 1999, the church building had been the location of countless parish events such as dinners, teen dances, and fall festivals. Catechism classes shared their faith with special programs such as the Our Lady of Guadalupe and Christmas Pageants and presented a living version of the Way of the Cross at Palm Sunday Mass. After having stood for 100 years, however, it was time for parishioners to take a good look at the building. They found a structure in need of great repair and determined a need for a new home…..a place for worship, a place for fellowship and a place where they could be formed in the faith.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new building took place on July 31, 1999 and a new church was built, by local artisans, adjacent to the old church building. Fr. John Hedrick celebrated the first Mass in the new church Christmas Eve, 1999. The old church was dismantled May 2000. The church bell, which had originally hung in the old church bell tower, was silenced many years ago when it was placed in a ground-level display in front of the old church after the bell tower had been removed. With the construction of the new church, the sound of the bell was returned to the village when the bell was hung in a new, freestanding bell tower. Originally cast in 1898, the bell is prayerfully inscribed  with a special prayer dedicated to the parish:

Like on Jordan’s Shore in old Syria

So here, in young Pecatonica

Glory to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Sing I with thee Angelic host.

To Mary, Virgin, pure serene,

All Hail to Thee Celestial Queen.

So it now and ever be.