This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Maranatha
Baptist Bible College
SACRED HEART CAMPUS SITE
NOW MARANATHA BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE
1968
Watertown Daily Times, 02 03
2001
Sacred Heart and
now Maranatha Baptist Bible College have
a long history and a close relationship with Watertown.
It was in the fall
of 1871 that the authorities of the Congregation of Holy Cross at Notre Dame
purchased the 65-acre site from Col. Henry Bertram who had purchased it from
Patrick Rogen. In addition to the land, the property consisted of a large
two-story residence of white brick and other smaller buildings. That was the
original school, and it later became a guest house.
One year later, on
The institution
grew rapidly, and before the end of the first semester there were 66 students,
five of whom were living on campus. To accommodate the increasing numbers the
Provincial Council a year later approved construction of the central section of
the main building.
Father Corby was a
pretty busy man that year. At the same time he was leading this construction
project, he was also pastor of St. Bernard's Catholic Church, and the huge
structure now at the corner of Church and Main streets was being constructed.
On
Back at that time
the board of trustees of the university consisted of the Rev. William Corby,
president; the Rev. Patrick J. Colovin, vice president; the Rev. John
O'Connell, secretary; Bernard Smith, chancellor; and John Crowley, treasurer.
Sacred Heart College
continued until 1886 when it was closed as a university by a decree of the
General Chapter of the Congregation of Holy Cross. At that time it was
converted to a normal school for the brothers as well as a preparatory school
for young men who aspired to become brothers.
This new concept
was short-lived, and in 1888 it was abandoned with 30 men planning to become
brothers transferred to the newly created St. Joseph Novitiate in Notre Dame,
Ind. At that point the school returned to being a university.
During the next
five years there was an ambitious building program. The entire east wing was
constructed in 1889. The northwest addition, which included the refectory and
chapel, was completed in 1891, and the southwest wing, which housed the
gymnasium and two bowling lanes, was constructed in 1894.
From 1888 to 1912
the school operated as a university, but it was closed that year and once again
it returned to the status of a normal school for young men who planned to
become brothers.
From 1928 to 1955 the
school also operated a regular high school course of study which was recognized
by the University of Notre Dame. The graduates of that normal school could then
easily be accepted to Notre Dame to complete their training as brothers.
The school was operated
just as the name indicates - as a military academy. The young boys were taught
strict discipline in addition to their academic and religious studies. We can
remember them dressed in military uniforms performing various close order
drills. They always looked pretty sharp as they went through their drills on
the campus.
These young men
came from all over the country and even some foreign countries. When they
completed their education here, they were well educated through the eighth
grade, well disciplined and well versed on the Bible.
Sacred Heart
continued with this mission until 1955 when it opened as a military academy. It
continued in that mission until 1968 when the Notre Dame officials decided to
move the school to Indiana and the buildings were put up for sale.
The final class to
graduate from Sacred Heart Military Academy consisted of 35 eighth-grade men.
It was the 13th graduating class. The graduation took place on Sunday
afternoon,
That review
consisted of the honor drill platoon, drum corps and a competition drill among
the four platoons of the company. Declamation winners gave their presentations,
academic and citizenship awards were presented and diplomas were issued to the
35 eighth-graders.
And by the end of
the day, the 17-member faculty, including the school's priest, had completed
their work, and the planned move to Indiana became the main order of business.
It didn't take
long before Dr. B. Myron Cedarholm visited the site with a vision of turning it
into a Baptist Bible college, and by later that year the deal had been
consummated and Maranatha Baptist Bible College was born. Maranatha has a rich
history since that time. The list of improvements and new facilities on the
campus has been staggering since that time, and there is much more to come.
It's kind of
ironic that the brothers decided back in 1967 that the campus simply needed too
much money to make the facilities acceptable for the purpose intended, but the
Maranatha team a year later saw great opportunities when they purchased the
facility for what surely appeared as a bargain price of $150,000.
Since that time
Maranatha has expanded academically and is now an accredited college offering
bachelor's and master's degrees in a number of disciplines. It also operates a
child care and preschool and has plans for further expansions on the site and
on some recently acquired property just north of
_________________________________________________________________________
1983
05 15 Dr. Arno Q. Weniger Jr. named
president, succeeded Dr. B. Myron Cedarholm
WDT
08 14 College opens its 16th year with Dr. Arno
Q. Weniger Jr. as new president WDT
08 16 Dr. B. Myron Cedarholm, outgoing
president, founder and new chancellor, honored
WDT
10 17 Doug Dupre, school sophomore,
received reward WDT
1996
08 30 New $2.4 million new library
dedicated WDT
1998
08 16 Dr. Arno Q. Weniger Jr., college
president, resigned after 15 years.
2007
05 01 Dr. Chuck Phelps selected as the fourth
president of Maranatha. WDTimes story
