http://www.RocklinHistory.org/
Rocklin’s Front Street Historical Committee has saved Rocklin’s oldest public building from demolition. -2005
On July 20, 2005 the committee approved an application by the Rocklin Historical Society to move the former Saint Mary’s of the Assumption Catholic Church about 300 yards north along Front Street to become the centerpiece of the soon-to-be-built Heritage Park. The park is a joint City of Rocklin and historical society project to beautify Rocklin’s railroad corridor with building restorations and new landscaping.
The park’s first phase, the church’s new home, is near Rocklin’s train platform at Front Street and Rocklin Road.
Electrical Maintenance Consultants (EMC) owned the church and gave it to the historical society with the proviso that it be moved quickly to make room for new EMC facilities. The historical society scheduled the move for Saturday September 17th.
According to the historical society, Rocklin Catholics built Saint Mary’s in 1882-83 on an oak-framed lot donated by pioneer Irish land developer James Bolton in 1882.
Gold Rush era Archbishop Joseph Alemany of the San Francisco Archdiocese dedicated the church on August 13, 1883. The historical society plans to renovate the church, bring it up to code, and lease it for weddings and other social functions. Front Street Committee member Kathy Nippert attended Saint Mary’s in her youth. “My daughter was baptized in that church and I would like to see her married there.” She said.
Saint Mary’s survived the fires that obliterated downtown Rocklin in the early 20th century but a declining granite industry and adverse economic effects of the Great Depression depopulated Rocklin and closed the church in 1933. Woodpeckers and foul weather toppled the steeple in 1937. The steeple’s base now holds up the Christian cross. The church reopened after World War II, but mainly as a satellite of churches in Roseville and Lincoln. It began to seriously fray with age in the early 1980’s
Father Michael Dillon became Saint Mary’s pastor in 1981 and held the church’s last mass on December 23, 1983. He then moved the congregation to the modern Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church on Granite Drive. “Saint Mary’s seated 80 people” said Dillon. “It was not nearly large enough for fast growing Rocklin”.
The church lacks plumbing and air conditioning.
In 1986, the Sacramento Catholic Diocese sold the church to The Church of Religious Science. Dr. Jim Carlson a longtime Religious Sciences member said that services were held there until 1997. “The church’s quaint atmosphere overcame its primitive facilities” he said. “It was always in high demand for weddings and I remember good times at receptions and picnics under the back yard oak.” Lois Caprile of Washington, formerly of Roseville, acquired the church in 1997 and offered the church, including church property, to the City of Rocklin as a gift. The city estimated that repairs and restorations would cost almost $200,000 and refused Caprile’s offer. Caprile then gave the church to a Baptist congregation who sold it to EMC in 2001.
The historical society first learned that the church was in danger when EMC applied to the city to demolish it in 2002.
Heritage Park Committee Chairman Gene Johnson, whose team of volunteers created the Rocklin Museum from a dilapidated house on Rocklin Road, said that volunteers will fix up the church with monetary and in-kind donations. “The church will present a special challenge,” said Johnson “we will need a lot of professional help because of the building’s height and the need to maintain its historic integrity.” Johnson is planning a party atmosphere along Front Street on the day of the move. “The Kiwanis will be there with hot dogs and lemonade at 1880’s prices” said Kiwanis Secretary Allan Stone”
Historical society historian Ruben Ruhkala, who recently published a manual on the history of Rocklin’s churches, would like to see Rocklin’s Catholic community more involved in preserving and restoring Saint Mary’s. Dillon plans to encourage local Catholics to participate. “After a restoration plan is developed we will help recruit volunteer workers and assist financially if needed” he said.
“Preserving the church, our oldest public building, will not only give Rocklin an important symbol of its’ early settlement, it will be useful as a gathering place for years to come” said historical society Ronna Davis.
To contribute funds or to volunteer call Gene Johnson on 624-2378