St. Peter’s Catholic Church held a rededication ceremony to mark the latest accomplishment in the growth of the parish Oct. 12.

The church has been renovated and expanded and the rectory has also been refurnished.

The Most Reverend Thomas A. Donnellan, archbishop of Atlanta, was on hand for the ceremonies. He celebrated a Mass in the church and then greeted guests at a reception that followed in the church hall.

The archbishop noted that “the sacrifice of time, talents and money by the parishioners has made possible the growth of the parish from the ten founding families in 1936 to the present 110 families, as well as the increase in church capacity to 200.”

Father Simon Slattery also was installed as the church’s pastor.

The early history of Catholicism in Troup County and West Georgia is legendary. Mass was first offered in the area near the end of the Civil War along the banks of the Chattahoochee River with the Union troops as participants.

After the turn of the century, a circuit priest would come about once a month while stopping at Lanett, Ala., on his way form Savannah to Atlanta.

During the long periods between the visits of priests, Catholics had to travel to Atlanta, Columbus, Griffin or other neighboring cities. Catholicism was kept alive in the area in the daily home life of the faithful.

An anonymous donor gave $10,000 for the building of a church in LaGrange and asked that the church be name St. Peter’s.

The Church Street property where St. Peter’s now stands was purchased for $875 and the church itself was completed and dedicated in April, 1936.

The front page of the LaGrange News featured a lengthy and detailed announcement of the forthcoming dedication ceremonies on Saturday, April 18, 1936.

The property for St. Peter’s rectory was obtained from the Callaway Relief Association, currently the Fuller E. Callaway Foundation, in October, 1935.

In 1936, Reverend George T. Daly was appointed as the first pastor. He, in turn, assigned George Masour and Hugh Marshall as the first acolytes.

Father Slattery said, “We will forever be grateful to the Fuller E. Callaway Foundation for its generous financial assistance, to the civic leaders and citizens of LaGrange who have welcomed us to their city; and to the other churches and their pastors who have, unfailingly, extended the hand of friendship and cooperation to us.”

The foundation donated $15,000 to the $28,500 project.