There was a great destiny for Holt County, but in the latter part of July 1876, grasshoppers temporarily postponed it. The grasshoppers covered the ground to a depth of four to six inches. The aerial flight of the insects was about one and one-half to two miles wide and lasted for nearly two days. Such severe crop damage, amounting to over fifty percent losses in the colony, caused many of the homesteaders to decide to leave the colony.

The official organization of Holt County occurred in the summer of 1876. In the face of the grasshopper scourge, it provided the struggling settlers with badly needed encouragement. They had been looking forward to the area's official recognition as a County for many months. The children of the settlers were able to attend a school, which was established by one of the settlers in her own home.

The settlers then decided to begin the erection of a church for the Lord. Father Bedard was still coming from Frenchtown (present day Neligh) for services in O'Neill. As the church was being built, Father Bedard is reported to have died, probably in Yankton in 1876. It was completed in July, 1877 and the first Mass was said by a Father Smith of Council Bluffs who was sent here for the purpose. He was appointed as the first permanent pastor of St. Joseph's Church (St. Patrick's Church) in O'Neill. As the newly ordained priest arrived in O'Neill, he temporarily resided at the home of John Cronin and at intervals with families of Dennis Daly and J. P. O'Donnell.

During the year 1879, Father Smith built the first parochial residence in the parish. Much land was still public domain and the virgin prairies, unbroken and unclaimed, lay invitingly awaiting the approach of the homesteader who soon came in, entered claims, and established homes so that Father Smith soon found his ever increasing congregation outgrew the seated capacity of his eighteen feet by thirty-six feet church. The first money collected for the new church, which was built by Father Smith, came from a bequest of John Hughes, a bachelor, who died here and willed his property to St. Joseph's Church - several thousand dollars in notes, on parties in Iowa, but for various causes. Father Smith realized only seven or eight hundred dollars on them.

The old church, which had been moved to the east of the church being built, was sold to the O'Neill School District Number Seven. O'Neill's first church building became O'Neill's first public school building and continued as such until 1884 when School District Number Seven built its brick building.

In 1889, a strong and universal feeling existed throughout the parish, that the time had come and the exigencies and necessities of the situation demanded the establishment, at O'Neill, of an Academy for young ladies, wherein should be taught the higher branches of learning, music, and the arts, the same to be placed in charge of and conducted by one of the more popular orders of instructors to be found among the sisterhood of the church.

Following Easter in 1890, subscription books, for the purpose of raising funds, were opened to the public and voluntary contributions were solicited for the purpose of building a Catholic Academy. The people, fully assuring the success of the project met these with generous and prompt responses. Plans were taking form to build the Sister's school on the lots just west of the church and rectory. It must be remembered that when the parish was incorporated in 1886, Bishop James O'Connor once again gave the warranty deed back to Father Cassidy.

The plans for the school really began to take form. Toward the middle of May 1890, a certain Mr. McLean visited Father Cassidy. He offered a cash donation of $2,500.00 and freight gratis on all material used in its construction. He also guaranteed that all the material should be purchased at Sioux City prices and all of this no doubt was to bring Mr. McLean's donation up to $4,000.00, possibly $5,000.00. A meeting on May 29, 1890, showed that the people of O'Neill pledged nearly $5,000.00, making the total close to $10,000.00. Meetings and conferences were held from time to time to devise ways and means until June 19, 1890, when the plans were released and a contract was entered into for the erection of the brick building. Many went to Architect Dyers' office to see the plans. The plans were elaborate and when the building was to be completed the cost was to be at least $22,000.00. It was to be seventy-five feet on the front (south) and forty-five wide (east) with an addition in the back thiry-one feet by forty-nine feet. But this back part was not to be built right away but in time was expected as an addition. It was to contain four floors ( basement, two full stories, and an attic). It was to be equipped with all modern appliances, and heated by steam. It was to be built on the western half of Block Four and was to be known as Saint Mary's Academy. But the plans were to build the best possible. The basement was divided into kitchen, laundry, and dining rooms. On the first floor was a music room and reception room in the southwest corner, a parlor in the southeast corner, two schoolrooms, hall and cloakroom. The entrance and vestibule measured nine feet by thirteen feet. The second floor had two sisters' rooms in front, chapel room on the east and a class room on the west, with a hall and cloak room as the floor below. The third floor is divided into dormitories, bathroom and hall. A tower measuring twelve feet by sixteen feet will run up in front over the vestibule. The large spacious hall and stairway, the elegant rooms for its various departments were to combine and thus make it one of the finest buildings in this part of the state. The style of the building was Romanesque, the corners were rounded, with a foundation of stone and the main building was to be of brick with stone trimmings.

City Engineer Adams set out the stakes for the building. To the people of O'Neill it was the Sisters' College but to Father Cassidy, it was to be Saint Mary's Academy. Excavation began in June of 1890, and Contractor Burns worked quickly. It only required half a dozen men and three teams of horses to get the job done. Mr. Burns donated his work to the church and was certainly deserving of much credit or as the local newspaper stated it "… considering the fact that he has not a dollar's worth of property in the town for his liberality."

The cornerstone for the new school was laid on September 13, 1890. It was a big day for O'Neill, and there was a large crowd to witness the ceremony. At two-thirty in the afternoon, the O'Neill Cornet Band marched to the church and rendered a few selections prepared especially for the occasion, in a very commendable manner. At three o'clock, the procession, which formed in front of the church, was composed of the O'Neill Cornet Band, the Sunday school children, the Young Ladies Sodality, the Catholic Knights of America, and the priests. The procession marched to the academy and upon the first floor, which was laid, and on which stood the speaker, Father Joseph F. Nugent of Des Moines, Iowa. On the platform with the speaker were Father John Jeannette of Omaha (who officiated as celebrant owing to the recent death of Bishop O'Connor and the Episcopal See of Omaha still being vacant), Father Kolin of Atkinson, and Fathers Cassidy and Hoheisl of O'Neill. Father Nugent delighted and entertained the audience for forty-five minutes in which he made the dedicating speech. He spoke upon the usefulness and the benefits to be derived from Catholic schools and the audience stood wrapped in attention as the words of logic and wisdom fell from his lips. As an orator Father Nugent had few, if any, equals and everyone in that vast audience listened with interest to every word that was spoken. After his talk came the ceremony of laying the corner stone. In the stone was placed a tin box which contained papers on which were written the names of Pope Leo XIII, the late Bishop O'Connor, President Benjamin Harrison and Vice President Levi P. Morton, Mayor John McBride of O'Neill, the names of the building committee, the largest donators, a copy of each of the city papers, including a copy of the "boom" edition of THE FRONTIER and also coins of the current year. After the ceremonies of laying the corner stone were over, the band played a few selections and the audience dispersed. That evening, Father Nugent gave a lecture in the church on the subject of "The Lost Confessional," which he handled in a very able manner and was listened to by a large audience. After the lecture a collection was taken up and together with the one taken in the afternoon amounted to one-hundred-fifty dollars, which was given to the academy.

Work was pushed along rapidly. Father Cassidy did take a mortgage on the property for two thousand dollars with the Fidelity Loan and Trust Company of Sioux City on Lots 13 & 14 and this was paid back by November 23, 1889. A Mechanic's Lien was filed by Richard Smithy and this was paid by December 6, 1890. Then the building was completed in early February of 1891. It had a slate roof and was very steep. The tower in front was higher than the rest of the building and was seventy feet above the ground and was surmounted with a large bronze cross of very fine pattern. There were three large chimneys one each on the north, east, and west, besides the several smaller ones. The material used in the structure was principally brick with stone sills, caps, and steps. Its foundation was secure and the building in every respect was solid and substantial, a creditable monument to the enterprise and liberality of the people and lasting credit to the city. The total cost of the building without the addition was not less than twenty thousand dollars and when the addition, which was in the planning stage, was to be added and the whole unit would be near thirty thousand dollars. The school was not expected to open until September 1891 because all the good teachers were already engaged in teaching for the year and it was the intention of the parish board to start with good teachers only. The Sisters of Charity had been contacted and had agreed to come and run the school. Father Cassidy had already received inquiries from points east and west concerning the school and hopes were high that the school was going to be a success.