Mission of the Sacred Heart - Cataldo, Idaho - Country Churches on Waymarking.com

The Mission of the Sacred Heart was constructed between 1850 and 1853 by Catholic Jesuit missionaries and members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. It is the oldest building in Idaho and the oldest extant mission in the Pacific Northwest. The first mission in the area was constructed in 1842 about 35 miles south on the St. Joe however repeated flooding caused that site to be abandoned in 1846 in favor of the current location. In 1850 Father Antonio Ravalli arrived and designed the mission. The mission was built using a technique called “wattle and daub” which involved using large hand-hewn logs latticed with saplings, woven with grass and caked with mud. The resulting walls are a foot thick and built without nails. The interior was decorated with painted newspaper and fabric. Classic European chandeliers were copied, using emptied tin cans, and gilded crosses were carved from local pines. Wooden altars were carefully painted and veined to resemble marble. The Mission served over a decade as the primary place of worship for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Later it became an important crossroads as supply station for settlers, miners and military personnel moving into northern Idaho and the Pacific Northwest.

The Mission was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and became an Idaho state park in 1975. Services are held annually in the Mission.

Church Name: Mission of the Sacred Heart Church In Use (even only just occassionally): yes Date Church Built: 1850 - 1853 Rate this church.:

Visit Instructions:
Photo required...prefer photo with church and sign showing church name...if both in one photo terrific.

Pictures required:
1. Church picture
2. Church sign (schedule sign with Church name on it &/or gate with Church name, etc).

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/18/2022 wildernessmama visited it 07/31/2012 n2life visited it 06/12/2010 3Bobs visited it 07/26/2009 floatinghippos visited it

View all visits/logs