St. Mary's Church - Butte, MT - Montana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

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St. Mary's Church - Butte, MT

in Montana Historical Markers

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 381104 N 5097081

From 1933 until 1978 St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was the major church of the Irish community in Butte.

Built in 1931-32-33, St. Mary's replaced the earlier wood framed church which burned in August of 1931. Built entirely of brick on a concrete foundation, the façade would be perfectly symmetrical were it not for the large square bell tower/steeple on the northwest corner. The building has all Roman arched windows on the façade and down the sides of the sanctuary, with the exception of a large round window centered above the entry, also with a Roman arched transom filled with stained glass. Windows and belfry vents are also Roman arched to match those of the rest of the building. Brick corbelling and various patterns of multi colored brick help to emphasize the church's façade and make it stand out from its contemporaries on the block.

St. Mary's Church

434 N MAIN - Italianate - Contributing - St. Mary's Church
North Wyoming Street was the heart of St. Mary's Catholic parish founded in 1902. A wood frame church was built in 1903 and the following September, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth opened a school in the church basement. A three-story brick school was completed in 1906, and by 1916 there were 726 pupils. The church was destroyed by fire in August 1931, and Pastor J.M. Nolan "worked zealously" for a new one. By the year's end, the cornerstone for a new church was laid on a lot on North Main Street donated by the Anaconda Company. A parish library in the basement, and social activities for children, men and women made St. Mary's a center of neighborhood life.
From the NRHP Registration Form

ST. MARY'S CHURCH
Square towers, a central circular window, and stained glass grace this Catholic church, which long represented the heart and soul of Butte’s Irish community. St. Mary’s Parish, founded in 1902 by Bishop John Brondel, encompassed a neighborhood of miners and tradesmen. Fire destroyed the original St. Mary’s Church on Wyoming Street in August of 1931. Pastor J. M. Nolan and his congregation laid the cornerstone for this church the following December on land donated by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. The new St. Mary’s remained an integral part of community life until the parishes of St. Lawrence O’Toole and St. Mary combined in 1978. Today St. Mary’s houses the headquarters of Our Lady of the Rockies Foundation.
From the NRHP plaque at the building