Sacred Heart Church - Rock Mountain, BC
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 49° 00.907 W 119° 08.339
11U E 343601 N 5431340
Though very near the road, this little country church is now sufficiently well hidden that we drove past it twice before finding it on the third try.
Waymark Code: WMMEB3
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 09/08/2014
Views: 2
As a matter of fact, we had to go back to the Dumont Ranch and ask directions in order to find it. We received directions from what would be a descendant of the builders.
Sacred Heart Church was built in 1930 by brothers Hugo, Paul and Joe Dumont, with help from several neighbours. Somewhat of a rarity in the area at that time, the church is Catholic, because the Dumont Family originated in Rouen, France. The first Dumonts to emigrate to Canada were Paul and Joe, followed in 1905 by Hugo at the age of sixteen. Deeply religious, it was the Dumonts who instigated the construction of the church.
The Dumont Ranch is nearby, less than a kilometre up Bridesville Road from the church. At, or near, the church is the Dumont Family cemetery. Unfortunately, though we were given clear instructions, we were unable to find the cemetery. The church (and cemetery) are about 4.6 km. down Bridesville Road from its meeting with the Crowsnest Highway, just east of the near ghost town of Bridesville. It is about 150 metres north of Rock Mountain Road.
The condition of the church indicates that it has not been used (as a church) for many years. Today it is the home of many thousands of bees, with beehives being kept inside. There is no longer a sign of any type at the church.
When first built, the clergyman was the well known and much loved Father Mac, Reverend A.K. McIntyre. It was Father Mac who had Sacred Heart Church in Rossland built and then served the church for the next 60 years - a Western Canadian record. Father Mac, born in 1888, passed away in Rossland's Mater Misericordiae Hospital in 1974.
Below are excerpts of two pertinent pages taken from the Okanagan Historical Society's 36th Annual Report, published in 1972: page 152 and page 73.
Paul and Mildred lived with their family in Bridesville for 24 years, farmed the old "Swears place" which was better known as "map on the wall" because of the steep contour of the land. It was during these years that the three brothers Paul, Hugo and Joe with other neighbors built the little Sacred Heart Church up on Rock Mountain. Relatives from near and far contributed and it was indeed a monument of their great faith and true piety.
The children received their first education at Rock Mountain school, but after eighth grade, great sacrifices had to be made to further their education. Leaving home at such tender ages was a hard ordeal for both parents and children but created a closer bond that is found in many families.
The years of depression found Paul taking his farm produce in the old Model A Ford down the Anarchist Mountain road (?) and up the valley to Penticton, or else over the narrow Richter's Pass trail to Keremeos. One of the homey and heart-warming stops on each trip was the Triangle Service at Osoyoos, where the Athertons had a hot cup of tea in the winter or a cold melon in the summer.
* * *
Though in many respects Hugo's life in Bridesville was quiet, there were numerous services which he either volunteered or was called upon by the community to perform. Among these tasks were: the preparation of the body for burial when there had been a death in the community; the business correspondence for the less literate; involvement in the activities of the local one-roomed Rock Mountain School, and later on, in those of the amalgamated school board.
His religion meant a great deal to Hugo as it did to the other members of his family. In the early twenties, church gatherings were held in homes. These would be real community celebrations with the priest coming by train for bicycle, as did Father M. A. Phelan) from Greenwood to offer Mass. After the services there would be a social gathering. In 1930 Hugo helped build Sacred Heart Church up on Rock Mountain. At that time the clergyman was the much loved "Father Mac," Reverend A. L. McIntyre, the priest of the lumberjack and farmer, who died in Cranbrook in 1967.
