Moved by Faith
The 1850s San Francisco church that kept moving west.
Years ago, a volunteer at OpenSFHistory mistakenly typed “St. Patrick’s Church” as the title of this image of 1906 earthquake damage to Holy Cross Church:
I noticed and corrected the title, but the volunteer wasn’t too far wrong with the name. Just next door to the two-towered church, out of view in the photo, stands San Francisco’s first St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. Here is a different-angle view.
Two-and-a-half miles from where it was erected in 1854, this humble wood-frame building, designed in a simple Classical Revival style, is probably the oldest standing religious structure in the city after Mission Dolores.
If you are trying to get ranked on Woody’s “Most Interesting Things in San Francisco” list (it’s not online, not in a book, only floating in my brain alongside old Giants’ statistics and expired Muni bus timetables), being pretty darned old is a good start.
Super bonus points are awarded if you are a structure that has moved (or was originally built to move). The city’s first St. Patrick’s Church has been relocated twice, nudged once, and I wouldn’t bet against it having another change of address some day.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
Happy Valley
Below is a May 1855 view of St. Patrick’s Church on Market Street between 2nd and 3rd streets when it served South of Market Street Catholics in what was then known as “Happy Valley.” The handsome brick structure on the left is the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. (You can read about a Protestant version of an orphan asylum here.)
St. Patrick’s began on the corner of 3rd and Jessie streets in a rented house which served as school, residence, and church in 1851. The church building and brick orphanage/school were erected on Market Street in 1854.
In 1872, a new large brick St. Patrick’s was dedicated on Mission Street, between 3rd and 4th streets, where, rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, it stands today. (Sort of... keep reading.)
When it was being constructed in 1869, St. Patrick’s was predicted to be “the only earthquake-proof edifice for public worship in the city.” Then came the 1906 earthquake:
Oh well. So, that cool old brick church on Mission Street? Pretty much a post-1906 creation...
Back to 1872... In December, with the new brick Mission Street cathedral in operation, workmen began preparing the original St. Patrick’s building for a move west.
Hayes Valley
At the time, Catholics on the western edge of the city had only a small chapel at Calvary Cemetery for Sunday mass. The first St. Dominic’s was under construction at Bush and Steiner streets, but in the meantime the old St. Pat’s building could fill a need.
Moved to Eddy Street between Octavia and Laguna Streets, the hall was reconsecrated as the Church of the Holy Cross in April 1873.
A couple of months later, the archdiocese decided to keep the Holy Cross name for the cemetery chapel and renamed the Eddy Street building and parish the Church of St. John the Baptist.
Its old neighbor on Market Street, the brick Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, was demolished in December 1873 to make room for the construction of the Palace Hotel.
The city and its Catholic population kept growing. In 1891, when a great cathedral opened on the northwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and O’Farrell Street, a new St. Mary’s parish gobbled up the Church of St. John the Baptist parish.
The little 1850s church building was sent farther west once more.
Last Stop?
Rev. John McGinty, pastor of Holy Cross parish with his humble cemetery chapel near Ellis and Broderick streets, conscripted the old St. Patrick’s/old St. John the Baptist church building to provide more space for his growing flock.
The priest contracted with James J. Manseau for the sum of $1,895 to move and reconstruct the building seven blocks west at its current location on Eddy Street near Scott Street. The church had to be cut in half for transport.
The simple but sturdy structure was rededicated (again) as the new Holy Cross Church on May 24, 1891.
No one was under the impression that after being outgrown by two parishes the small hall would be Holy Cross for long. The San Francisco Chronicle predicted during the second move that the forty-year-old building would “probably only be used as a church for the parishioners of Holy Cross parish for a short time, as it is Father McGinty’s intention to build a fine edifice in the near future.”
After a few years of fundraising, Father McGinty did have his fine edifice. When the new Holy Cross church was dedicated on August 13, 1899, the 1854 church building became the parish social hall.
Despite the damage shown in the 1906 photo, Holy Cross was repaired after the earthquake and served Western Addition Catholics—including a few of my relatives—for close to ninety years.
Damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake persuaded the archdiocese to put the church property up for sale rather than spend an estimated $3 million on seismic retrofitting.
Developers consolidated part of the church building into a condominium complex, fairly successfully in my opinion. The 1854 building needed a slight nudge on the lot to make space for the new work.
The rest of the 1899 church, and the old St. Patrick’s, are now occupied by a Buddhist temple, the Macang Monastery. The oldest religious frame structure in the city—San Francisco City Landmark #6—is used as an occasional art gallery by the monastery.
Buddhist art tends to be exuberant. The parishioners who once sat in pews amid candlelight and oil lamps in the nineteenth century would likely be dazzled by the brightness and color that fills their old church in the twenty-first.
Watch the Beertown Talk
Woody's January 30, 2025 Beertown talk recorded and online
I finally got it up on YouTube. Oh, and if you missed past online shows, they can be found on the events page.
Woody Beer and Coffee Fund
I have a couple of trips planned in March, but maybe we can still squish in some time to have a coffee or a beer? Let me know when you are free! And if you want to contribute to my make-Woody-be-more-social beverage fund, feel free to do so!
Sources
“The New St. Patrick’s Church,” San Francisco Examiner, December 17, 1869, pg. 3.
“Local Brevities,” San Francisco Examiner, April 19, 1873, pg. 3.
“Jottings About Town,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 19, 1873, pg. 3.
“Church News,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 8, 1891, pg. 3.
“Silver Jubilee of St. Patrick’s Church,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 28, 1897, pg. 28.
“Contracts for Holy Cross Church,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 1898, pg. 22.
“The Dedication of Holy Cross,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 14, 1899, pg. 9.
Luke M. Carroll, Holy Cross Parish and Lone Mountain District of San Francisco (San Francisco, October 1937)