When the Soo Line Railroad came through Dickey County at the turn of the century, some of the Irish construction workers settled down to farm around the new town of Fullerton. Until they could put up a church, the handful of Catholic families held services in the Kingsley Hall, with clergy from Ellendale as the officiants.

When the little congregation grew to over a hundred persons, the parishioner’s moved an unused church from Ellendale to Fullerton to serve their needs, but hard times for farmers hit Dickey County in the 1920s and 1930s, so the parish thought more of survival than of expansion.

When Fr. Charles Veach arrived as the pastor of Ellendale and the Fullerton mission (1943), he taught the people to think more creatively. An avid farmer himself, he promoted the concept of “God’s Acre.” Whereby the farmer donated the proceeds from one acre to the parish building fund. Since crops and prices improved, the plan worked: St. Patrick’s was able to buy the unused town hall and convert it into a parish center.

In 1948, St. John’s Church in Monango was closed, with some of the Catholics joining St Patrick’s. St. Patrick’s is currently served by the pastor of Ellendale.

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