Saint Mary's of the Barrens anchors Perryville's Catholic heritage

Perry County has deep Catholic roots, and Saint Mary’s of the Barrens, in Perryville, is at the heart of that story. The first Catholic seminary west of the Mississippi River was founded here in 1818 by Bishop Du Bourg, with Joseph Rosati as its first president. (Rosati later became the first bishop of St. Louis.) A seminary is a school that trains men to become priests, and this one served the wider region. The early Catholic families who settled this area, known as The Barrens, came mostly from Kentucky and France, not from Germany. If you are new here, this history helps explain the local Catholic churches, place names, schools, and customs that can feel different from many other parts of the state. Perry County also has a separate German story: in 1839, a group of Saxon Lutherans settled nearby and founded towns such as Altenburg, Wittenberg, Frohna, and Dresden. That was its own settlement stream, not part of the Catholic Barrens community. The State Historical Society of Missouri is a good place to learn about who settled here and how places got their names. It is still smart to confirm exact founding dates and any “first” or “oldest” claim with the school itself or with trusted history sources rather than just repeating what you hear. Treated with care, this is solid local background, not advertising.