Known for its twin towers and hand-painted murals, among other features, Immaculate Conception Church has stood on a Seattle hilltop for a century.

SEATTLE—Constructed in just six months’ time, Immaculate Conception Church was built to last. It turns 100 years old this month.
Along the way, the city’s oldest standing Catholic church has survived three major earthquakes (1949, 1965 and 2001), a devastating fire (1982) and threatened parish closures. But over the past decade, the venerable structure has been renewed following a string of restorations, repairs and seismic upgrades to its historic grotto and ceiling murals, its twin bell towers with carillon bells, its roof, massive front steps, and other areas.

On Saturday, Dec. 11, the parish will celebrate the building’s 100th birthday with an all-school reunion and an anniversary Mass celebrated by Archbishop Alex J. Brunett.
The centennial gives parishioners, particularly the “oldtimers,” an opportunity to be “unapologetically boastful” of their historic church, said Deacon Fred Cordova, a longtime parishioner.

“’Our Church’ is indeed especially unique in Seattle Catholic Archdiocesan annals,” he wrote in a reflection. “Immaculate parishioners have gone through ‘been there done that’ via trials and survival of poverty, closures, racism, civil rights, genderism, centennials, renewal, gentrification, plus a five-year, multi-million-dollar renovation.”

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the parish became well-known for its civil rights social activism under the pastorate of Father Harvey McIntyre.

In 1978, one of his successors, Father John Cornelius, became the archdiocese’s first African-American pastor.

Today, the parish, led by pastoral coordinator Joan McGuire and parochial vicar Father Fabian MacDonald, is a “rich and vibrant mix of American worshippers primarily from African, Filipino, Asian, Hispanic and European backgrounds,” Deacon Cordova said.
“God has blessed all and continues to provide.”

Founded by the Jesuit Fathers, Immaculate Conception Parish was just 13 years old when the church atop Seattle’s First Hill, at 18th and E. Marion St., was built at a cost of $65,000, according to a history done by Dr. Dorothy Laigo Cordova, chair of the Immaculate Historical Committee and the wife of Deacon Cordova.

The cornerstone was laid on May 4, 1904. On Dec. 4, Bishop Edward O’Dea, assisted by Seattle pioneer Father F.X. Prefontaine, dedicated the lofty structure, the largest Catholic church in the Northwest at the time -- its dome soaring to 150-feet above the floor. It also was the largest auditorium in the city.

Celebrating the solemn Mass that day was Tacoma pioneer Father Peter Hylebos. His altar boys at the service included young Theodore Ryan, a future monsignor and archdiocesan chancellor, who was to serve as Immaculate’s pastor from 1929 – when the Jesuits turned administration of the parish over to the diocese -- up to his death in 1960.

Designated a city landmark in 1974, Immaculate Conception Church is an architectural mix of Romanesque, Baroque and Byzantine design with a red brick exterior and a composition tile roof, according to information compiled by the Cordovas. The church’s 150-foot, Italianate twin bell towers made of old growth timber are visible from blocks away. Each is topped with a zinc-coated cross and ball.

The cruciform-shaped church features, among other highlights: an elegant sanctuary with a life-size crucifixion display; a two-thirds replica of France’s Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto; side altars with life-size statues of Christ and some of the saints; hand-painted murals on the ceiling and walls; a choir loft with a huge pipe organ donated in 1961; and a Renaissance stairway church entrance.

The church was built to accommodate 950 worshippers. It was later enlarged to hold 1,500, and now seats 800.

The Cordovas said the parish has several local and national claims to fame, plus some interesting anecdotes.

• The Sunday envelope system, used nationwide, originated at Immaculate Conception in 1919 after a parishioner who was also a bank president launched the “Dollar a Sunday Club.”

• The elaborate Stimson-Moore wedding, held at Immaculate in 1916, was featured on the cover of Ladies Home Journal.

• A 50-mile windstorm in 1930 toppled the church’s cross and carried it a block away. Another storm four years later sent the chimney crashing through the roof and into the sanctuary, interrupting a Forty Hours devotion but injuring no one.

• Future Philippines Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon and his family stopped in for Mass and Communion at Immaculate in 1930 during his trip to Washington, D.C.

• The funeral Mass for Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy, the archdiocese’s fourth bishop, was celebrated at Immaculate Conception in 1950.