Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church - Mill Valley, CA - Roman Catholic Churches on Waymarking.com

From the website: "Our faith community began humbly. The town, Mill Valley, was named for John Reed's Sawmill. Like all the little communities in the area, it began growing with the inauguration of regular ferry service from San Francisco to Marin County. A gala land auction was held at the sawmill and by 1890 a post office had been established.

In 1893 the town's name was changed to Eastland after the president of the Tamalpais Land & Water Co. The new community boasted 500 residents and 1500 "tourist people".

It was at this time that Father John Valentini, assistant pastor of Star of the Sea parish in Sausalito, just a few miles to the South, began hitching up his horse and buggy on Sunday mornings to say a Mass in "Eastland" and a second Mass in Bolinas, on the other side of Mt. Tamalpais and up the coast a bit. The first church service was celebrated at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Thompson on Molino Avenue. The large Thompson family included the famed novelist Kathleen Norris, Fred Thompson, also an author, and Joseph Jr. an inventor and engineer.

Later, Fr. Valentini said his Masses in a room at the now-gone Summit Grammar School, and after working for a church building, he eventually succeeded in gathering the help of the Tamalpais Land & Water Co. in securing a site at the rear of the old school for a plain wooden frame structure measuring 33 ft. by 65 ft.
It was over 100 years ago - in 1893 - that the first Our Lady of Mount Carmel was dedicated by Archbishop Patrick W. Riordan assisted by the pioneer Sausalito pastors Fr. Valentini and Fr. Cummins.
There are two commonly told tales as to the origin of the name of our parish. The first and most widely accepted story is that the area reminded Fr. Valentini of Mt. Carmel in Northern Palestine. It is claimed that in 84 A.D. the descendants of St. Elias built the first church at the foot of Mt. Carmel, honoring the Mother of Jesus. Mt. Tamalpais (Miwok for "Woman at Rest") rises dramatically from the little valley just as Mt. Carmel did in Palestine. The second story is that the church was named in honor of a parishioner who had supported Fr. Valentini's struggle to build the church. But no one is sure whether it was named for Carmela Fenton or Carmelita Boyle both of whom were ardent workers on the Church's behalf.
By 1900 the little town, once again called Mill Valley, had 1500 permanent residents. The great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 boosted its growth and by 1910 Our Lady of Mount Carmel became an independent parish, with Fr. Joseph Sesnon named its first pastor.

Now there was a question as to where the center of town would ultimately develop. Fr. Valentini bought a future church site at Carmelita and West Blithedale avenues, while Fr. Sesnon decided to buy a site at the corner of Buena Vista. When Fr. Philip Byrne became pastor in 1916 he began building a much needed new church at Fr. Sesnon's site.
Our church then became a stucco, Spanish Mission-styled building with a seating capacity of 200 and a Rectory adjacent to it. Archbishop Edward J. Hanna dedicated it in January 1917 and the celebrant for a Solemn High Mass was Msgr. John G. Cantwell, later to become Archbishop of Los Angeles.
Fr. John J. O'Brien became pastor in 1955. The church at the time was over crowded and an increase to five Sunday masses was necessary. The community of Mill Valley was in need of a parochial school as well as a larger church. It was 18 years before the present Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was built."




Regular Mass Schedule
Saturday Evening 5:30 PM
Sunday 8:00, 10:00 AM, 5:30 PM
At the Redwoods 9:00 AM
Weekdays & Saturday 7:45 AM
Holy Days 7:45, 12:10 PM, 6:15 PM

Type of Church: Church Status of Building: Actively in use for worship Date of building construction: 01/01/1972 Archdiocese: San Francisco Diocese: San Francisco Address/Location: 3 Oakdale Avenue Mill Valley, CA USA 94941 Relvant Web Site: [Web Link] Date of organization: Not listed Dominant Architectural Style: Not listed Associated Shrines, Art, etc.: Not listed

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