Antonino

HISTORY

Antonino is an unincorporated community in Ellis County, Kansas about 8 miles southwest of Hays, Kansas. It was established in 1904 by parishoners from St. Francis Catholic Church in Munjorwho wanted to establish a parish nearer to their homes. Most of these re-settlers originially came from the colony of Ober-Monjou. They wanted to name the town St. Anthony, but because there was already a town called Anthony in Harper County, they settled on the name of Antonino, the name of the town in Brazil in which several of the families had lived before they came to Kansas.

By 1912, a wooden church, rectory, and a two-story convent along with both parochial and public school buildings had been constructed. A stone school house was built in 1939.

VOLGA GERMAN PARISH

Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church

Sources

At Home in Ellis County, Kansas: 1867-1992. Hays, KS: Ellis County Historical Society, 1991.

Leiker, James N. "Antonino, Kansas: A Changing Village on the Plains." Journal of the American Historica

Society of Germans from Russia 35:3 (Fall 2012): 1-6.
- Leiker, James. The History of Antonino, Kansas.