Around 1911, Catholics in the Woodland neighborhood of Duluth were officially part of the Cathedral Parish, but chose to begin meeting locally instead of traveling to East Duluth for services at the Cathedral or to Gnesen for services at St Josephs, and they continued to meet in Woodland for many years before St John's Parish was organized.  The first recorded priest for the area where St John's would eventually be built was Rev. Thomas Hennebry, who served as an assistant priest for the local community from 1911 to 1912.  Before the parish was founded, beginning in 1913 until the first church building was built, families in the vicinity attended Mass at the chapel of the St James Orphans Home - today known as Woodland Hills.

St John the Evangelist Parish was incorporated on March 5, 1915.  The first directors of the corporation were the Most Rev. James McGolrick, the first Bishop of Duluth, Rt. Rev. Joseph F. Buh, Vicar General of the Diocese, Rev. Thomas O'Donoghue, pastor and two lay members, John J, Smith and John F. Hennessey.  The parish was established early enough in the development of the City of Duluth that the street located on the church's West side was named St John's Ave - the church preceded the naming of the streets nearby.

The first church building was completed in 1916, just to the East of the current building.  Initially, only the first floor was built, though the building was intended to eventually be a combination of church and school with the school to be on the future second floor.  In 1918, the devastating and far-reaching Cloquet-Moose Lake Fires destroyed much of the Woodland neighborhood as the flames marched towards Lake Superior.  The once-burgeoning community's growth was slowed for many years, though St John's survived the disaster.  As a result, in 1924, with plans to add the second story delayed, a one-room hall was attached to the rear of the church for use as the St John's school until the second floor could eventually be built.  Following World War II, the Woodland neighborhood once again began to experience rapid growth, which necessitated a change in the plans of the Parish.

Instead of completing the second story of the church for use as the school as originally planned, the directors decided on building a new church just West of the school at a cost of about $200,000, and this would also allow the school to expand into the old church.  Ground was broken in early May of 1951, and the cornerstone was laid on Sunday, September 16 of the same year.  The new church was dedicated on June 22 of 1952.  A second story was still added to the old building just a few years later to meet the need for additional space as school enrollment grew.  The original school room in the back of the old church was converted into the school's gymnasium.

In the 1960's, a rectory was built to the North of the church, providing much-needed quarters for church offices and a residence for the pastors.  A new gymnasium was added to the school in 1999, though the original school room-turned-gym still stands, now used for school equipment storage.  In 2003, St John's completed the final step in becoming ADA compliant and able to accommodate persons with disabilities with the installation of an elevator and completion of accessible restrooms in the main church.

Pastors of St John's
Rev. Thomas O'Donoghue, 1915-1920
Rev. Msgr. Michael Boland, 1920-1966
Rev. Daniel McEmery, 1966-1972
Rev. Lawrence O'Shea, 1972-1982
Rev. Ronald Gagne, 1982-1993
Rev. Jerome Weiss, 1993-2005
Rev. William Fournier, 2005-present

Assistant Priests of St John's
Rev. Thomas Hennebry, 1911-1912
Rev. Richard O'Gorman, 1920-1924
Rev. Patrick Corbett, 1924, 1981
Rev. Edmund Mockler, 1924-1928
Rev. Edward O'Reilly, 1925-1926
Rev. Laurence Glenn, 1928-1947
Rev. Dennis McCafferty, 1930-1932
Rev. Joseph Hughes, 1932-1936
Rev. John Kausek, 1936-1937
Rev. Patrick McEnery, 1937
Rev. Bernard Smith, 1937
Rev. George Gallik, 1937-1940
Rev. Harry Larkin, 1940
Rev. William Larkin, 1940-1946
Rev. T. Gregory Manning, 1946-1950
Rev. Frank Melosavich, 1950-1957
Rev. John Doyle, 1954-1957
Rev. Frederick Fox, 1957-1965
Rev. Edward Foster, 1957-1958
Rev. Patrick Moran, 1958-1960
Rev. Lawrence O'Shea, 1960-1963
Rev. Michael T. Hayes, 1963-1967
Rev. Robert I. Hulitt, 1967-1970
Rev. Dennis D. Evenson, 1967
Rev. James Walsh, 1970-1972
Rev. Michael Lyons, 1972-1974
Rev. William Graham, 1976-1979
Rev. Ronald A. Licari, 1979-1981
Rev. Dale Nau, 1981-1982
Rev. Whitney Evans ??-1988-1999-??

Deacons of St John's
Chico Anderson, 1982-1993
Walter Beier 1994-present

More about St John's Catholic Community:

History of St. John's
Sacraments
Religious Education
Liturgical Ministries
Parish Ministries
Faith and Fellowship
Parish Socials / Seasonal Activities
Parish Facilities
Parish Organizations
Social Outreach
Parish Giving