Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church Bell Tower - Northport, WA
Posted by: T0SHEA
N 48° 54.812 W 117° 47.182
11U E 442383 N 5418141
On South Avenue in Northport, this little Catholic church could well be a centenarian.
Waymark Code: WMK6RG
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 02/20/2014
Views: 1
The parish of Sacred Heart of Mary was founded in 1898, right around the heyday of the town of Northport, which, around the turn of the twentieth century quickly grew to become a city of 3,000 when a smelter was built in the town to handle ore from both Canadian and American mines nearby.
Now clad in aluminum siding and wearing a steel roof, this church undoubtedly began its life sporting wooden siding and roofing, but how long ago was that? The small church may or may not be the original Catholic Church, we have yet to find that out. Its architecture, however, is suggestive of that era, when bell towers were made quite large in proportion to the rest of the building, and Catholic churches (in this area, at least) almost always had the bell tower centered in the front of the building, at the entrance. Such is the case with this building. It stands upon a rubble stone foundation, further indication of its age.
Given that this parish was founded in 1898, it could well be the original building, for this reason. In the 1890s Northport suffered four major fires, the last of which occurred on May 3rd, 1898, burning more than three full blocks of the downtown area. This was the final major fire that Northport was to endure, meaning that many buildings, most of local brick, built after May 3rd, 1898 survive to this day.