Catholic Church
St Rose of Lima Catholic Church
705th St
On June 12, 1881, Father Pascal Tosi celebrated the first Mass in Cheney in a hall above a store downtown. Under the direction of Father Joseph Giorda, a 20 by 30 by 14 foot building was completed by September 1881, at a cost of $1,200 on the northeast corner of 5th & C Streets. Two lots for the building were purchased from the Northern Pacific Railway Company for $25. Parishioners raised all of the funds for the building.
It was constructed of boards 10 to 12 inches wide, running vertically, which came from a small mill operating at the edge of town. The little mission style church was kept whitewashed throughout the year. A potbellied stove provided the only heat, and the pews were arranged on either side of the stove. In a letter to friends in France, 1884, Father Louis Ruellan wrote that he had said Mass in Cheney, "where Catholics, good and bad, a dozen families, have a wooden church, alleged Gothic. Quite becoming on the outside, but absolutely bare on the inside."
Not until 1896 was there a resident priest at Cheney, Father M.J. Forhan was assigned to St. Rose of Lima Parish and to care for the Missions in the area.
The Cheney Sentinel newspaper, on November 23, 1900, reported that Father F.A. Faust had purchased a 500 pound bell, “which will be blessed in December, the weather permitting.” This same bell, decorates the exterior grounds of the present St. Rose church on North 5th Street.
A pump-type organ provided music. For many years during the early 1900s, one woman was the organist and soloist – Mrs. Margaret Mulligan Martin, the wife of Clarence D. Martin, owner of the flour mill and later, Governor of Washington.
The building was demolished in early 1927, it rivaled the Methodist in claiming to be the oldest church in Cheney.
In 1926, a Catholic resident of Cheney, Mr. Mike Weippert left $5,000 from his estate for a building fund for a new church. Father Gerald Feisst, resident pastor at the time, appointed Miss Elizabeth Goerling, Al D. Walker, and Mrs. W.R. Bernard, the building and finance committee to work on the construction of a new church.
It was decided to tear down the old Mission Church and erect the new St. Rose of Lima Church on the same site. All the furniture was stored during the construction and Mass was offered on Sundays in the St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 610 C St.
The cornerstone was laid 23 October 1927.
The new structure cost approximately $12,000, and many things from the old church were used in the new including the bell, the beautiful velvet drapes on the doors of the confessional, and the organ.
The new brick church building was dedicated by the Most Reverend Charles D. White, Bishop of the Spokane Diocese on December 8, 1928. The first Mass was offered on Christmas Eve.
The one-story building has a full basement and was described as "bungalow Gothic" with an interior finish in the mission style. It is wood-frame with a brick veneer exterior.
This St Rose of Lima church building was used until the construction of a new church at 460 North 5th Street, which was dedicated April 8, 1970.
The stained glass windows were removed from the building before it was sold to the university and was re-dedicated as the Indian Studies department.
460 N. 5th Street
new church at 460 North 5th Street, which was dedicated April 8, 1970.