Following this church most all Catholic churches to be built in the state for many years were built of either brick or stone. St. Stanislaus Kostka Church was built in 1901 as part of the St Stanislaus Kostka Mission, established in 1900, and named for Saint Stanislaus Kostka, a well-known Polish saint.
Though not especially large, St. Stanislaus is large for a small town. Gothic Revival in style, it is also very Catholic in style, with a prominent centre bell tower and steeple set about half of its depth into the sanctuary. To the roofline the tower is brick, matching the building, but entirely wood above. The wooden tower continues up from the roofline for several feet, here having a quatrefoil window in its front face, then steps into a smaller square belfry, like the rest of the tower. All sides of the belfry have double, side by side Gothic vent openings covered with wood slats and heavy tracery in the centre. The relatively tall octagonal steeple, now covered in asphalt shingles, is topped with a gilded cross and ends with flared eaves at the top of the belfry.
[The church's] story really begins in western Pennsylvania, where a young coal miner aspired to the priesthood.
Epilepsy kept 16-year-old Thomas Purcell from being accepted into a Catholic seminary. So, he spent five days in prayer to St. Stanislaus Kostka of Poland, who also faced obstacles in his path to a religious vocation. The 17th-century saint’s father wanted him to become an influential politician.
Purcell promised to build and dedicate a church to the saint if he was cured, and his prayer to become a priest was answered.
He traveled west to Spokane, where priests were in demand. After teaching at a school affiliated with Gonzaga University, he was invited by an Idaho bishop to study for the priesthood in Montreal and was ordained. Purcell kept his vow by building the Rathdrum church.
From the Spokane Spokesman-Review
Saint Stanislaus Catholic Church is a Gothic style brick parish church with a wooden tower. Its slightly outset centered steeple dominates the façade. Two Quatrefoil windows flank this tower and another is located in the clapboard part of the tower. All other openings have Gothic arches including the narrow windows on either side of the vestibule. Abbreviated buttresses demarcate the six side bays and grace the corners.
Saint Stanislaus Catholic Church is an exceptionally fine example of a Gothic style parish church rendered in brick. The Catholic diocese regards this as their earliest brick church constructed in the state, and it certainly marks a growing Roman Catholic program in construction of substantial houses of worship.
The Kootenai County Republican claimed it to be "one of the finest buildings of public worship to be found anywhere in the state in a town of the size of Rathdrum."
Father T. J. Purcell was instrumental in getting this church erected and moved to Rathdrum to oversee its construction.
From the NRHP Continuation Sheet