History program focuses on Latrobe-area churches
The Latrobe Area Historical Society will usher out the year with an encore presentation of a program highlighting the many facets of the town’s faith community.
The slide show “Holy Latrobe: The Historic Houses of Worship” will be screened at 9:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday at the society headquarters, 416 Weldon St., Latrobe.
Doors open at 9 a.m. each day. Refreshments will be served. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.
In addition to on-street parking both days, the lot at Kelly, Sparber, White and Associates, at 400 Weldon St., will be available to society visitors on Saturday only.
The Latrobe area is home to Saint Vincent Basilica Parish, said to be the first Catholic parish in Pennsylvania west of the Allegheny Mountains that has continued to remain active. Formed on April 16, 1790, it was originally called Sportsman’s Hall Parish, after the 300-acre tract where it was located, in what would become Unity Township.
It was later renamed Saint Vincent, when a new parish church was dedicated on the feast day of Saint Vincent de Paul.
The parish shares a campus with Saint Vincent College, Saint Vincent Seminary and Saint Vincent Archabbey, which are run and staffed by Benedictine monks. The Archabbey Basilica was completed in 1905.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
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