[2] The Catholic Church in Fort Madison was organized by a missionary priest to the Midwest named John George Alleman.

[3] Initially, he stayed in the home of John Gerhard Schwartz, where he also celebrated the first Mass in the town.

The last church building for the parish, which still stands on the east side of downtown, was built in 1886.

Alexander Hattenberger planned for a larger and more centrally located church for his growing parish.

[8] It was named for the day (September 14) that the School Sisters of Notre Dame came to Fort Madison from Milwaukee in 1860.

Plans were made to move to the new parish facilities in late 1870, but Bishop John Hennessy of Dubuque refused to dedicate the new church until its debt of $7,000 was paid off.

The church building was designed by the St. Louis, Missouri architectural firm of Walsh & Schmidt.

[8] The building was completed for $40,000 and by the time the spire was added and the interior was furnished it costs were placed at $100,000.

[8] The exterior of the church is composed of red brick with a large and tall central tower and spire.

The tower collapsed into the main body of the church during a tornado, which struck Fort Madison on July 3, 1876.

There was a pipe organ built by William Pilcher in the gallery when the tornado struck the church and it was destroyed.

[8] It was damaged in a windstorm in 1890 when bricks and debris from the construction of the new spire crashed through the church roof.

A larger school building was designed by Dubuque architect Martin Heer and it was built for $22,000 in 1899.

It ceased being a school building in 1977 and it was struck by lightning and burned down shortly before it was scheduled to be torn down in 1979.

[10] On December 8, 1893, a combination church and school was dedicated at the corner of Union Avenue and Des Moines Street (23rd and I).

There is a corner tower and spire, and a statue of the Sacred Heart sits on the peak of the front gable of the facade.

[11] The original Sacred Heart Hospital building now houses the offices of the Lee County Health Department and the 1956 addition became a continuing care center.

Demographics in the city of Fort Madison and the Diocese of Davenport began to change in the latter half of the 20th century.

Fort Madison lost population and the religious habits of Catholics started to change.

A plan to consolidate parishes in the diocese was developed under Bishop Gerald O’Keefe.

[6] In 2009 Saints Mary and Joseph merged with Sacred Heart and formed Holy Family Parish.

[2] Media related to St. Mary of the Assumption Church (Fort Madison, Iowa) at Wikimedia Commons