Notre Dame de Lourdes

Carbon County's coalfields drew Catholics from across Europe and beyond, and in 1919 they began building this church to hold them all. Notre Dame de Lourdes rose slowly — services were held in the basement for four years until it was finished in 1923 — under an Italian-born priest, Father Alfredo Giovannoni. The plaque names the peoples who worshipped here, and the list is remarkable: French, Italian, Basque, Slovenian, Croatian, Mexican, Lebanese, Spanish, and more. In a mining county of a dozen nationalities, the church was a rare common ground.

What the plaque says

Construction on the Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church began in May, 1919. The building was completed and dedicated June 20, 1923. The basement was used for services during the four years of construction. The church was build under the direction of Father Alfredo F. Giovannoni, an Italian-born priest who served in Carbon County from 1917 to 1930. This building stands as a monument of the Catholic contribution to the region and its unifying influence among the area's French, Italian, Basque, Slovenian, Croatian, Mexican, Lebanese, Spanish American, Northern European, and American Catholics

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Prehistoric Museum at USU Eastern — 0.2 mi
  A small-town museum punching way above its weight in dinosaur science
• Price — 0.2 mi
  A gritty coal mining town with a surprisingly excellent dinosaur museum
• Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry — 21 mi
  The densest concentration of Jurassic-era dinosaur bones ever found

More markers nearby

• Star Theatre — 0.2 mi
• Carbon Tabernacle/Price River Valley — 0.2 mi
• The Price of Freedom World War I Memorial — 0.2 mi
• Coal Miner — 0.3 mi