St. Paul's Mission - Kettle Falls, WA
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T0SHEA
N 48° 37.715 W 118° 06.400
11U E 418456 N 5386759
This, the site of the original St. Paul's Mission, was established near the Fort Colville Hudson's Bay Trading Post in 1830. This was the first non-native settlement in this area.
Waymark Code: WMNFG4
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 03/05/2015
Views: 2
This historic district emcompasses two separate settlements which were in close proximity, St. Paul's Mission and the Hudson's Bay Trading Post nearby. Their historical significance is due to their being the the first non-native inhabited sites in the area. The district is situated just northeast of the Kettle Falls bridges over the Columbia River, on St. Paul's Mission Road, off Highway 20/395.
By some accounts, the first building was erected on this site in 1838 by French Canadian Friars Francis N. Blanchet and Modeste Demers, who held the first Catholic Services between the Rocky and Cascade mountains. A more permanent structure was completed by the natives by May of 1846. The first resident priest was Fr. Peter De Vos, who remained until ill health forced his retirement. A more substantial timber structure was built during his tenure.
Frs. Joseph Joset and Louis Vercruysse took over the mission and ran it during the 1850s. Temporarily Closed in 1858, it reopened in circa 1863, but its value as a mission was declining, partly due to a dwindling local native population and partly due to the opening of another mission at what is today the city of Colville. The final known services were held at the mission in either 1868 or August 14, 1875, depending on the source.
The mission fell into disuse and disrepair until, by 1901, half the roof was gone, the windows, doors and floor were gone and the cross at the peak of the roof had fallen. In the the late 1920s Jesuit Frs. George Weibel and Joseph Tomkin began to promote restoration, but neither interest nor money were forthcoming.
At a centennial service in 1938, interest in saving the mission was awakened, and restoration began in 1939, under the leadership of Father Georgen. Ownership was transferred to the state of Washington in 1951 and to the National Parks Service in 1974, which has maintained it ever since.
The mission was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
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| St. Paul's Mission 1888 - 2016 |
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| St. Paul's Mission 2016 - 1888 |