Sacred Heart Church - Alturas, CA - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

One of Alturas' most historic buildings is Sacred Heart Church, a grey, stone church that sits on top of a hillside on E 4th Street. There is a plaque monumented on a piece of lava rock that reads:

SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH BEGUN 1883 COMPLETED 1910 DESIGNATED A NATIONAL HISTORIC PLACE BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR IN THE PONTIFICATE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II IN THE EPISCOPATE OF BISHOP FRANCIS QUINN IN THE PASTORATE OF REVEREND JAMES SHEETS 1983 THE CENTENNIAL YEAR

In touring the outside of the church I was very surprised to see a number of names scratched into the soft stonework that makes up this church. Many of the names had dates scratched under them and some were more than 60-70 years old. One name that was scratched in stone at the front of the church was from 1910 (the completion date of this church) and was of a woman from Moscow, Idaho. I thought these scratched names as something unexpected on this church, but it looks as though they were almost intentionally done with the church's consent since there were so many.

I wasn't able to tour inside the church but was told it is filled with good old-fashioned wooden pews and decorated in the traditional Roman Catholic style.

The following text is taken from the National Register of Historic Places nomination form that summarizes this church's significance and reads:

Sacred Heart Catholic Church is the last remaining historic church building in Alturas, and one of the last in the county. All other early churches in the community have been lost to fire and demolition within the last 50 years. Sacred Heart is the only example of its type and period in the county. With its buttresses and lancet windows, the small stone church is a notable example of Gothic Revival styling. Since its beginning in the 1880s the church has stood as a symbol of stability for the entire community. The holding of joint church services with four denominations participating, in recent years, proves it as a focal point of community life in Alturas. This year marks the centennial of the founding of the Roman Catholic Church in Modoc County with the start of the construction of Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

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I was also very surprised to read about the history of this church and discover that this church sat unfinished in construction for 26 years (as evidenced by the older pictures from c. 1890). It was the Protestant population of Alturas that finally came together with the Catholic parish and helped finish this church in 1910.

This church's historic pictures are part of the National Register of Historic Places PDF document and can be accessed here.

Year photo was taken: 1890

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