In 1869, Seattle's first Roman Catholic Church is built. It is called Our Lady of Good Help and guided by Fr. Francis Xavier Prefontaine (1838-1908) until its demolition in 1904. It is the third church in the village.
Fr. Louis Rossi purchased property for the church on the corner of 3rd Avenue S and S Washington Street during a brief visit to Seattle in 1858. Fr. Prefontaine arrived in 1867 and completed the church two years later. It was enlarged several times, and torn down in 1904.
Sources:
Fr. Wilfred P. Schoenberg, SJ, A History of the Catholic Church in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, D.C.: The Pastoral Press, 1987); J. Willis Sayre, This City of Ours (Seattle: Seattle School District No. 1, 1936), 60.
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