A Brief History of Saint Aloysius Parish Many of us are new to the area and don’t know the history of our parish.  The first church on the South Coast was established at Cuffy’s Cove north of Elk on land donated by Mr. James Kenny for a church and a cemetery, which remains there to this day.  The church, called, Mary, Star of the Sea, was built in 1880.  In 1895 Elk was designated a parish that included Anderson Valley and all of the South Coast.  Before that priests from Mendocino traveled by horse and buggy to Elk, Point Arena, and Gualala to administer to the faithful.  These irregular trips were sometimes six months apart.   Whenever the priest came to Gualala, Mass would be celebrated in the parlor of the Gualala Hotel.  Between visits, Catholics often went to the Methodist Church in Gualala so ecumenical outreach has had a long tradition in town.  Property located on North Main Street in Elk was donated by Mr. M. Donahue for a rectory and Mass was celebrated there until the present Blessed Sacrament Church was built and consecrated in 1896.  Resident priests did not arrive in Elk until 1903.       Trinity Hall derives its name from the fact that there were originally three  Catholic communities on the South Coast—Elk, Point Arena and Gualala.  Elk was declared a parish in 1885 and included Anderson Valley and all of the coast. In 1889 St. Aloysius Church in Elk became a separate parish with the church completed in 1895.  Priests came down the coast from Elk on the dirt roads that are now paved but still sometimes undependable.  The first pastor, Rev. Modestus Henderson,  was installed in 1903.  Point Arena grew steadily over the years and the congregation remained stable.   In 1948 the original church structure in Point Arena was declared unsafe and razed to make way for the present church.  The last marriage in the old church was the wedding of Clarence and Dorothy Buti.  The new church was consecrated on April 27, 1950.  Father Vivian O’Connell was the first pastor and Donald and Sharon Fraser were the first couple married there in August, 1950. Franciscan Capucin priests were in residence until the Diocese of Santa Rosa was formed in 1960 which was the same year Trinity Hall was built.  A Mass schedule was established in Gualala in 1975 with services held outdoors on the site of the present church on land donated by John and Ida Bower.  The rest of the year Mass was held in various locations including the Gualala Community Center until the present building was completed and consecrated in August, 1995.  In all thirty priests have served the parish since 1885.   Return to About Us Page