St. Joseph's Catholic Church - Waterville, WA - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

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St. Joseph's Catholic Church - Waterville, WA

in This Old Church

Posted by:  T0SHEA

10T E 719945 N 5281485

The second church of Saint Joseph's Parish, this is a much more substantial building than was the first, built in the early 1890s.

Long a landmark on Highway 2 as it winds its way through Waterville, St. Joseph's is a rather elegant Romanesque Revival building with a touch of Italianate influence thrown in. With construction commencing in 1916, St. Joseph was dedicated on April 20, 1917. Since its construction it has been one of the two most revered buildings in the town of Waterville, the other being the Waterville Hotel a few blocks to the southwest.

Built primarily of very light colored buff brick, these are contrasted with dark red bricks forming diamond patterns and Romanesque arches, both faux and real, these last over the arched windows and belfry vent openings. A round window over the south entrance is surrounded with red bricks and completed with a hood of corbeled red brick. High above, red brick is also used to create dentils along the cornice, with more faux arches below.

The large square steeple/bell tower with low pitched hipped roof is partially set into the southeast corner of the sanctuary. It has large belfry openings, each framed with double wooden Roman arches surmounted by an arch of four layers of red bricks set with the ends exposed, the third layer corbeled for effect. Inside the belfry can be seen the large bell and pull wheel, as well as a more contemporary speaker, probably there to simulate a carillon. At the bottom of the belfry is a corbeled band of buff brick, below which are more red brick dentils. The wide overhanging eaves at the belfry's top have carved and exposed rafter ends, the whole supported by pairs of three piece gusseted brackets. This last touch is quite Italianate, as is much of the decorative brick work, while the overall style of the building is very much Roman Revival, or Romanesque.

Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph parish was founded in 1892. Under the direction of Father DeRough, a small church was built on the north side of Waterville. This building burned down in the 1970s and is now the site of the former Big Bend Equipment building.

The first resident pastor was Father Joseph Luyten. By 1915, the congregation had outgrown their first church. Father J.M. Schramm built the first permanent brick church which is the landmark that attracts the eye of travelers on Highway 2 between Waterville and Spokane, located on the corner of Poplar and Chelan Streets. It was dedicated on April 20, 1917, by Bishop Schinner of Spokane.

Father William Condon, who later became the third Bishop of Great Falls, Montana, built the present rectory in 1923.
From Local Prayers