The Passing of a Landmark
On Sunday, April 18, 2004, Saint Clements Catholic Church in Hammond was demolished. The church was set ablaze, and reduced to rubble in a little over an hour.
One anonymous Hammond resident commented, "This church has been there longer than I can remember. I am sending some pictures I took last week. The big, beautiful trees were cut down over the weekend, so it already looks so much different. I cannot even imagine driving down into Hammond and not seeing the church."
Heidi noted, "The building was only a shell. Without a congregation, the Lord had moved out too. It is quite sad, as so many people hold memories of baptisms, marriages, and funerals within these walls. It is unfortunate that no one could have been allowed to make use of the structure. We can't use the 'White Catholic Church' in Hammond as a landmark for giving directions anymore!"
Bonnie wrote, "Today, on Sunday, April 18th, Dan and I arrived at the Catholic Church at approximately 8:17 am, and I made him start shooting immediately. He finished with the last picture at 8:51 am. When we first arrived in the area, the smell was so bad [from the] burning. And the Black Smoke ~ Wow! I have never seen so much black smoke in one place in such a short time. This was so saddening."
