Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
Father Lawrence Kilroy established Catholic churches throughout St. Clair County during the early nineteenth century. In Kenockee he founded a cemetery and the 'log church,' the precursor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, in 1853. The church served a mostly Irish parish. In 1876 Irishmen formed the St. Patrick's Benevolent Society, which raised money to help the needy. Members could be fined for dueling, for mentioning politics during a meeting, and for missing the St. Patrick's Day parade. In 1897 the parish built a monumental Neo-Gothic church in Emmett. That church burned in 1966 and was replaced with the present structure, which typified church architecture of the era when it was completed in 1970.