Today I'm taking another break from the Knott series to talk about the sesquicentennial (150 years) of St. Boniface Catholic Church in Anaheim. They kicked off their year-long celebration last weekend with an all-too-brief, but outstanding, historical exhibit..
The photo above shows their second church, built in 1879. The photo was taken after 1891, after the building was moved to Harbor and Chartres. The photo below shows their third church, which was built in 1902 and torn down in 1964.
Stephanie George and Carlota Haider created the exhibit. Stephanie writes, "It’s difficult to determine the date on which the first Mass was said in the burgeoning town, although sometime after 1865 seems likely. Traveling priests from San Gabriel Mission and the Plaza Church in Los Angeles frequented the area for sacraments and by 1869, the Catholic community had built a small church on a lot deeded to them from the Anaheim Water Company.
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"In 1875, they were officially established as a parish in the diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles. It was at this time that San Antonio de Padua de Santa Ana, the public chapel built in 1860 by funds provided by Bernardo Yorba, was designated a “mission” of St. Boniface and their sacramental records transferred to the church in Anaheim. It’s because of this that St. Boniface traces its roots to Yorba’s chapel and claims 1860 as its genesis.
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"The current edifice is the fourth building the Church has occupied at three different locations in the downtown area. After tearing down the first building in 1879, a second New England-style wooden clapboard church was erected on the same property on Cypress Street. This building was moved to another location in 1895 on Harbor at Chartres. In 1902, construction began on a brick Gothic-style building on the northwest corner of Harbor and Lincoln which served the parish for sixty years until the growth of the Catholic population, fueled by the post-World World II baby boom required a new building--constructed in 1963-1964--which remains today."
The photo above shows the current church when it was brand new. Notice that the landscaping wasn't even in yet. The photo below shows the 1902 church at Christmas in 1960 -- ending this post on an appropriately seasonal note.
