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| History of Our Parish |
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Our Spiritual Leaders
1852 - Fr.
Chirouse 1852 - Fr.
Mansueto
1853 - Fr. Louis
Custer
1886 - Fr.
Michael McCauley 1890 - Fr. F.X.
Guay 1894 - Fr. Peter
Van Holenbeke
1900 - Fr. John
Edwin O'Brien 1902 - Fr. A.J.Bourke 1906 1902 - Fr. T.F.Van
de Walle
1948 - Fr.
Garrett Galvin 1962 - Fr. Anthony
Throckmortin
1966 - Fr.
Patrick O'Neill
1972 - Fr. John
Peters
1975 - Fr.
Michael O'Brien
1979 - Fr. Dennis
Champagne
1999 - Fr. Richard
Ward |
The first celebration of the mass on a regular basis in what is now
the Snohomish County area is believed to have been held by Father
Chrouse, who came from the Yakima Valley to Tulalip in 1857, two
years before Snohomish was incorporated as a city. He built a church
at Tulalip Bay and also a school for the tribe's children.
In 1883 Father Louis Custer came to Snohomish from Seattle as
a missionary and began a movement to build a church on some property
that had been donated to the Catholic's in the area b E.C. Furgeson,
the man who is credited for founding the city of Snohomish. Although
Fr. Custer was unable to achieve the goal immediately, he continued
to celebrate mass in homes until the Alhambra Theater became
available for services.
In 1886 Father Michael McCauley came to Snohomish as the
area's first resident pastor. With his own money, Fr. McCauley began
the process of constructing a church in Snohomish. The original
building was 55 feet long, 28 feet wide, and had a steeple 80 feet
high. The building and accompanying rectory were built for about
$1600. The Catholic Church joined two other churches in the city: a
Methodist Church and a Presbyterian church.
The church was originally dedicated as "Our Lady of Mount Carmel"
but was later changed for unknown reasons to "Saint Michael's"
In 1920, the church was renovated and remained much the same until
1986, when the current building was constructed.
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