The very early priests in Mendocino County had an enormous territory to cover. According to the Official Service and instruction Book for Mendocino County, California, copyrighted 1911 by Church Publishing Company, "one priest had charge of Fort Bragg, Mendocino, Cuffey's Cove, Point Arena and the whole coast line of Mendocino County." This territory was covered by horseback in all kinds of weather and was indeed a challenge for the early men of the cloth. According to information extracted from the San Francisco Diocese by Mr. John Royce, the original church in the Greenwood/Elk area was established in 1866 as a mission church attached to then Saint Vincent's of Mendocino in the Marysville Diocese. It was called Saint Patrick's and was erected by Father Vincent Rierra, who resided at Mendocino City. It was a wooden structure and was 40' x 20' x 14'. The total cost was $800.00. The boundaries of this mission extended from the Sonoma County line in the south to the Albion River in the north. The eastern boundary was the Mountain House to the 'sea highway' (Navarro highway - 128) and territory west of the hills. The western boundary was the Pacific Ocean highway from Gualala to Albion. The boundaries of this mission remained the same for the Blessed Sacrament Parish when it was established a few years later. There is no recollection what happened to Saint Patrick's and it is presumed to have been razed. In approximately 1880, Saint Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church was constructed at Cuffey's Cove, a small lumber community just north of present day Greenwood / Elk. The church was built by Father James Sheridan at a cost of $3,000.00 (see Mendocino Beacon, June 30, 1977) and was situated about 100' inside the gate of present day Cuffey's Cove Catholic Cemetery. This land for the church and cemetery was donated by James Kenny to the Bishop of Marysville in July of 1879. The Star of the Sea was a simple Gothic wooden structure with an arched ceiling, three aisles in the nave, and three altars in the chancel. There was a choir gallery inside and above the front entrance. The dimensions were 76' x 36' x 22' and the spire measured 12' x 12' at the base rising to a peak of 84'. Cuffey's Cove was a thriving shipping port community for a number of years with a population in the neighborhood of 300 - 400 people. A fire, which destroyed much of the town, and the construction of a saw mill and wharf in Greenwood caused most of its residents to move south. In 1895 the present day rectory (in Elk) was built to house the resident pastor. It was erected by Father Walruzel, a French priest. Evening services and Lenten devotions were held in the rectory in one of the front rooms, while Sunday Mass and funerals continued to be held at St. Mary's Star of the Sea in Cuffey's Cove.In 1896 the present Church of the Blessed Sacrament was built on land donated by Michael and Catherine Donahue. Reverend Father Henry White, an English priest, had the church constructed. The size of the church is 52'x42'x16'. The Blessed Sacrament parish was established in this same year and was transferred to the Diocese of San Francisco. Services continued to be held from time to time at St. Mary Star of the Sea until 1910 after which the building was declared unsafe and a few short years later was torn down. The bell from the old Saint Mary Star of the Sea, which was purchased in 1880, was brought down to the Blessed Sacrament and used in the bell tower for many years. Not only did the bell announce Mass, but was also rung to notify the populace in the case of an emergency. The bell was removed in the early seventies during a renovation project. Today it is displayed in front of the church and its fine tone resounds throughout the town announcing vigil Mass on Saturday evenings. The original Catholic population was largely Irish in the early days with names like Buchanan, Burke, Conway, Cooney, Donahue, Kenney, Rafter, McMaster and so on. Intrinsically tied to the history of the Catholic Church in the community is the annual St. Patrick’s dinner dance which began as a grand party thrown by the Native Sons of Little Ireland. Its history dates back at least as far as 1893 and has become a very important tradition for the little town of Elk continuing to this day. Descendants form some of those early Irish families still reside in Elk, although most have moved out of the area. In the 1890s and the early part of the 20th century, a large Italian population settled in the area adding to the color and personality of the community -- the Baccis, Nonellas, Valentis, Baldecchis, Gallettis, Luzzis, etc. As with the Irish, most of the original families have moved elsewhere though some descendants are still in the area. The Catholic community along the Mendocino Coast was under the care of the Secular clergy from its inception in 1866 until September 1903 when the Franciscan Capuchin Fathers took charge of the coastal missions. The first Capuchins were English, Fathers Marianus Fiege and John Mary Finnigan coming to the United States from Liverpool in 1897 to engage in missionary work. They were later joined by Fathers Sebastian Brennan and Laurence Blanderfield who continued to move West eventually ending up in California in 1903 being invited by the Archbishop of San Francisco. They took charge of the missions in the coast section of Mendocino County residing in Mendocino. The last of the secular fathers was Reverend Father White under whose direction the Blessed Sacrament Church was constructed in 1896. By 1907 the spiritual care of all of Mendocino County Catholics was handed over to the English Franciscan Capuchins. That same year, Father Marianus who headed the Capuchins in the area was stricken with paralysis, and Father Sebastian Brennan took charge of affairs eventually becoming Superior of the California Mission. In 1920 the Irish Friars Minor Capuchins took over responsibility for the mission. Father Sebastian Brennan, the Superior over the English Capuchins, decided to stay in Mendocino County with the Irish Capuchins and moved to Elk at that time. The Irish Capuchins remained until 1968, the last being Rev. Fr. Eunan Buckley, O.F.M. Cap. Until the early 1950's the priests resided at the rectory in Elk. When the town was in its hey day, as many as forty to fifty worshippers regularly attended services at the Blessed Sacrament. But dwindling population as a result of declining lumber industry resulted in only a handful of regulars by the late forties and early fifties. Point Arena had many more parishioners, so in the early 1950's, Rev. Fr. Antonine Keating moved to the newly constructed rectory at Saint Aloysius, our neighbor to the south. Saint Aloysius, which had become a mission church attached to the Blessed Sacrament in 1897, then became the head of the Parish. During all this time, Gualala was not a mission. People would have to travel to Point arena to attend Mass. The above history was taken from the Blessed Sacrament Church, Elk website; www.blessedsacrament-elk.org Return to the About Us page |