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(Photograph by Steve C. Martens)
St. Mary’s is Bismarck’s second-oldest church. Father Clement Dimpfl arrived in Bismarck in 1896 and dedicated this Gothic Revival church two years later. The church has a Latin cross plan, with a sanctuary and three sacristies facing north. A square tower with an octagonal spire anchors the southwest corner of the facade. The large stained glass rose window in the center of the gabled facade was donated by Medora von Hoffman, the Marquise de Morès, in memory of her husband. Following her precedent, women congregants donated nearly all the stained glass windows at St. Mary’s. The windows depict a variety of liturgical themes. The adjacent St. Mary’s School was constructed in 1908, with eight classrooms on the first floor and quarters for the nuns on the second. The top floor, with hardwood floors and a pressed-metal ceiling, was used for boarding students.