If you take a drive between Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Russellville (Pope County) on Highway 22, you may see a building that looks out of place. It appears to be an ancient structure you’d see somewhere in old Europe rather than rural Arkansas. That unusual building is the Subiaco Abbey and it has an interesting story.
Subiaco Abbey is an American Benedictine monastery located in Logan County, Arkansas. It was established in March 1878 and was called St. Benedict’s Colony. St. Benedict’s Colony provided for the settlement of German-speaking immigrants in western Arkansas and laid the groundwork for what would become known as the Subiaco Abbey and Academy. The monastery is home to thirty-nine monks, as well as a preparatory school operates, Subiaco takes its name from Subiaco, Italy, the site of the first monastery founded by Saint Benedict.
In July 1891, Pope Leo XIII upgraded the status of St. Benedict’s Colony to the rank of abbey. With its new status as an independent monastery ruled by an abbot, the colony was renamed Subiaco Abbey. In 1892, Bishop Edward Fitzgerald sent seminarians from the Diocese of Little Rock to train at Subiaco and the training of seminarians continued there until around 1911.
Sadly, the original monastery was destroyed by fire in December 1901. Thankfully, a new monastery was almost finished at the time of the disaster. The new monastery was located on a hilltop overlooking the small town of Subiaco and is the current site of the abbey and academy. Along with the move to its new location, the abbey opened a high school for boys in 1902.
Tragedy struck the abbey once again in 1927, as the building was destroyed by flames. Unfortunately, this time Subiaco Abbey suffered a very slow recovery. The fire, along with the dire economic situation caused by the Great Depression, did not allow the abbey and academy to fully recover until a few years after the end of World War II. In 1963, Subiaco Abbey opened the Coury House Retreat Center as a retreat ministry for visitors from across the nation and world and in 1978, Subiaco Abbey and Academy celebrated its 100th anniversary.
In 2007, Subiaco Academy announced its plans to allow eighth graders to attend the school. Subiaco had admitted eighth graders in the 1940s and 1950s, but had stopped. During the twenty-first century, Subiaco has had quite the diverse student body with students from fifteen states and other nations including China, Mexico and South Korea. Of the nearly thirty staff and faculty members at Subiaco Academy, almost a quarter are Benedictine monks.
Today, the compound at Subiaco is home to around 40 monks. In addition to serving as instructors at the academy, several of the monks also serve as pastors for churches in the surrounding communities. On the farmland surrounding the abbey, other monks raise Black cattle, maintain a vineyard, operate a sawmill, and grow the produce necessary to make their own Monk Sauce, a habanero pepper sauce which can be purchased in person at the Subiaco store or online at countrymonks.com. In 2018, Subiaco opened a public brewery and tasting room.
So if you’re ever in the Subiaco area, stop in at the old abbey. After all, where else can you get hot sauce, wine, and go to confession afterwards?
A proud sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and their beloved Boston Terrier, Dixie. Brown teaches history and broadcasting at a private school in Bryant. Find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.
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