Florissant Tutors

About Florissant

Florissant Missouri is one of the oldest European settlements west of the Mississippi, and found it’s beginning in French farmers and fur trappers. These settlers were drawn to the fertile bank of Coldwater Creek, and dubbed their little valley “Fleurissant” which in French meant “flowering” or “flourishing”. Although the area was currently under Spanish rule, the French worked their valley and found great success making a living. The Spanish had named the area St. Ferdinand, and today a great church, known as the St, Ferdinand shrine, stands as a reminder of the towns beginnings. The Spanish granted the site where the church would eventually be built.

In the late 1700’s the first parish was created, and was nothing but a simple log building. This served the community for some time until the first of the structures we see today was built in the early 1800’s. Around that time the covenant was built, and the building saw its first Mass on Christmas Eve of 1819.

In the beginning the church was under the Religious Order of the Sacred Heart, an organization started in France in 1800. This organization ran the church until the mid 1800’s. The Father of the church was known as “Black Robe” by the Native Americans he reached out to via his missionary works.

When the Religious Order of the Sacred Heart left the church in 1846, the Sisters of Loretto were appointed to the building, but it was quite some time before further development would happen. It wasn’t until 1880 that the church was enlarged, and a bell tower and alter added. At this same time the Sister’s built the New Loretto Academy, a four-story brick building, as well as a parish school. This school would serve to educate the children of the parish and no doubt saw the first sets of Florissant tutors walk through those doors as well.

The church and school served the community for many years, but in the 1950’s the town created a larger church to serve the needs of the growing community, and the Archdiocese of St. Louis was going to have the building demolished. Fans of the church banned together, however, and working under the organization name the Friends of St. Ferdinand, were able to get a deed from the Archdiocese and purchase the church for only $1.00. It was turned into a historic monument and given the name the St. Ferdinand Shrine.

The building as seen a couple of fires since this transition that required some restoration, but it remains a place for visitors to come and view a piece of history. I’m sure if you chose this spot to meet with your Florissant history tutor you would get a wealth of knowledge from the artifacts and history still contained within the building.