This parish is distinct in having been the first one in Montana Territory. There are older missions in Montana, the oldest being St Mary's Mission in Stephensville, ca 1840, but this was the first parish to be established in the territory. In the parish, the 1875 church and the 1911 church still stand, about 100 feet apart. The first church was a log building 42' X 18' in size, with a 30' X 18' sanctuary, in which the first services were held on December 8, 1866, just over four months after Reverend DeRyckere's arrival in the town. At the time there were still fewer than 500 people in the town, mostly miners and their families. The second church was built in 1871, a wood frame building located on the west side of Main Street.
Shortly after, this church, a larger and more substantial stone church, was built on the east side of Clark Street, between Montana and St. Mary's Avenues, groundbreaking taking place on July 1, 1875. The church was blessed and housed the first services on March 19, 1876. Today a relatively plain building, it was built primarily of local fieldstone, with larger granite stones defining window and door frames as well as quoins at the corners and down the sides of each of the lancet arched windows. The church was built with an octagonal bell tower near the front of the gable roof, atop which was a tall spire and cross, the whole rising 70 feet above ground. We assume that these were removed when nearby Immaculate Conception Church was erected in 1911.
The Reverend had living quarters in the rear until 1893, when the pastor's residence was completed. In that year the rear of the church was turned into classrooms for a boys' school which was named St. Remigius School in honor of the pastor. Attendance never surpassed 20 students and by 1901 was down to 12 students. In that year the school was closed and the students thereafter attended public school. Still used for parish functions, it remains today as St Mary's Hall, beside the pastor's house.
Below are excerpts gleaned from the
Parish History.
...Also in the year of 1874, Father DeRyckere purchased a site west of the hospital for a new and larger church. This site is the block where the present church buildings are situated. There was a cemetery on the east side of the block at the time which he subsequently purchased for a nominal fee. The purchase agreement with the commissioners called for Father to remove the graves to a burial site one mile west of the town, the present Hillcrest Cemetery. The new church was blessed and opened on March 19, 1875. Small living quarters were in the back of the church building. The building cost about $11,000 including furnishings and is still in use today (St. Mary's Hall next to pastor's house.)
Once the girls of his widespread parish had been cared for by the opening of St. Mary's Academy, Father DeRyckere's attention turned to the boys of the area. His own new residence was finished in 1893 and he converted his former home in the rear of the church into a complex of small classrooms. The boys were enrolled in the first five grades. The school was named St. Remigius in honor of the pastor. The enrollment never exceeded 20. By November 1901. enrollment had dropped to only 12 boys and the Sister teacher was withdrawn. The school was closed and the brief history of St. Remigius School had ended.