St. Hyacinth: Ancestor of St. Frederick High School

Just after the end of the Civil War, Rev. Father Gergaud dreamed of a Catholic school for his flock. He decided to make that happen, even though there were no funds and no building for it. Father Gergaud moved into the sacristy and made the rectory into a convent school.

Father Gergaud wrote to the Mother Superior of the Daughters of the Cross in Louisiana, Rev. Mother Hyacinth to ask her to send some of her nuns as the first teachers. Three sisters were sent: Sister Loretto, Sister Theresa and Sister M. Joseph. The school was then named St. Hyacinth in the Mother Superior’s honor.

The school opened September 16, 1866 as a girl’s school but boys were allowed in 1881. It was not just Catholic children who attended. Jewish and Protestant students were enrolled and even sat through catechism instructions!

By 1898 the school was getting crowded. Plans were made to buy the old Isaiah Garrett home on Jackson street to have more room for a church and school. The city offered to buy the lot the current school sat on, but only if the buildings were cleared. The old rectory and the Young Catholic Friends hall was moved to the Jackson lot and was used as a school till 1903 when the new building was built. In 1923 the building was turned over by the sisters to St. Matthew’s and the school was renamed St. Matthew after the Parish. In 1928 the cornerstone of the new school was laid and the building that once was St. Hyacinth was no more.