In 1952 the Catholic community in Tuscaloosa centered around St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, St. Francis Chapel, St. Mary’s Church, and St. John’s School. Most of the Catholics in Tuscaloosa attended church at St. John’s, which is the oldest church in the Northern Diocese of Alabama. The only functioning club for catholic men was the Catholic Men’s Club, which met in the basement cafeteria of the school located across the street from St. John’s. In 1954 a handful of Tuscaloosa’s Catholic men met at St. John’s Church, and traveled to Birmingham to undergo the initiation for the third degree of the Knights of Columbus.
After commuting to Birmingham for several meetings, these Knights decided to join together to form a Knights of Columbus Council in Tuscaloosa. Despite some resistance, this group formed the Council and a charter was granted in June, 1955. Alvin Dupont was the first Grand Knight. The new council did not have a home and the meetings were held at the three churches, the VFW hall, the American Legion buildings and at various homes and offices of the members.
Eventually, the use of St. Mary’s church and convent was offered to the Knights. St. Mary’s was at one time a school but was underused so the Knights found a home in the school building. The building was renovated to become the home of the Tuscaloosa Knights Council for a while.
Prior to 1965, the members of the Knights formed a corporation (the Philapatrons) and purchased a lot for $1,500 on the Mimosa Park Road in Tuscaloosa. Having a place on which to build, the members of the council got together and constructed a Hall. Meetings were held here for several years until this building was sold and another building acquired on Kauloosa Road. That building too was eventually sold and the Knights met at Holy Spirit Parish Hall until 1991 when the present K of C Hall was completed on the Campus adjacent to the Parish Hall.
Since that time the Council Hall has undergone many upgrades and now hosts one of the few Pit Cooking facilities in the Southeast where the Council cooks its unique BBQ Pork for fund raisers to support numerous charities. It has a fully functional kitchen, office, meeting hall with seating for 90, an expansive covered patio.
Membership and interest in the Knights has continued to grow in recent years and K of C Tuscaloosa now boosts 230 members. This growing membership plus the Knights growing participation in Community-Wide events has insured success. The Council now works to support, Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, the Veterans Hospital, Catholic Family Services (serving all of Tuscaloosa), Environmental awareness programs, Assistance to Individuals with Physical Disabilities, the P.A.L. program, Knights Youth Programs in Soccer and Basketball, Scholarships for Seniors with plans to attend College, and programs indigenous to our Faith such as right to life and seminarian support.
This hard work and these programs have not gone unnoticed and in November 2007, the City Council and Tuscaloosa Mayor proclaimed Nov. 11 – 17 as Knights of Columbus Week. The week following, the University of Alabama’s SGA did likewise. And so as K of C celebrates its 125 year history of ministry and our Council has these accomplishments as a base on which to build, the Council now turns its attention to the future.
To insure the continued support for the Community and to improve Tuscaloosa, the Council now invites all generations to join us. With Fresh Ideas and New Energy we hope to build on a long successful tradition. So we invite All Catholic Gentlemen to join us in these most noble causes as the Knights of Tuscaloosa continue a Crusade to improve life in our City through our Faith Ministry. .