Saint Mary-of-the-Woods

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Coordinates	39 ° 31 ′  N , 87 ° 28 ′  W Coordinates: 39 ° 31 ′  N , 87 ° 28 ′  W
Basic data
Country	United States
State	Indiana
county	Vigo
Township	Sugar Creek
height	170 m
Residents	797 (2010)
Post Code	47876

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods , often referred to as St. Mary’s , is an unincorporated community of Sugar Creek Township in northwestern Vigo County in the US state of Indiana . The municipality is part of the statistical area Terre Haute . Much of the area on US Route 150 belongs to the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods , who operate their motherhouse and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College here . Although Saint Mary-of-the-Woods is an unincorporated community, it has its own post office with zip code 47876. According to the 2010 Census, the area has 797 inhabitants.

history

The earliest land registry entries in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods date back to 1825 when George and Polly Smith acquired a patent signed by Andrew Jackson . It is likely that it was a land grant for military service as George Smith was aide and messenger to George Washington during the American Revolution . In the years that followed, other settlers purchased land from the US government. Joseph Thralls and his family acquired some property from the Smiths in 1835.

In 1838 Joseph and Sarah Thralls sold several properties for $ 15 to Simon Bruté , Catholic Bishop of Vincennes . He wanted to set up a mission for the area around Terre Haute . For this he built a small church, the first in Vigo County .

In 1840 the holy mother Theodore Guerin and her companions arrived here. They found dense forest here with a few buildings. Here they founded the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods , a Roman Catholic congregation. Initially, the Thralls family provided accommodation for the sisters.

As the monastery grew, so did the town of St. Mary's. In April 1850, 20 men set out for California in search of gold . In 1851 the village already had a post office, two small inns, three or four shops, wagon builders, coopers, carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, joiners, etc.

The post office called St. Mary's was established in 1846. In 1912 it was renamed Saint Mary Of The Woods.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ US Board on Geographic Names. Retrieved July 30, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Zip Code Lookup
3. ↑ Mary Borromeo Brown: History of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods: Volume I . Sisters of Providence, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana 1949, pp. 33-36, 627-629.
4. ^ Vigo County . Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved July 13, 2016.