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Overview

This Early Gothic Revival church, constructed of redwood timbers and cladding, has served the Catholic population of Tomales, CA, since 1860.

Building History

From 1860-1862, Father Louis Rossi served as the priest in charge of the Church of the Assumption #1 in Tomales, CA. According to a history of the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Tomales: "In 1860 the Church of the Assumption was built in Tomales on land donated by John and Kate Miller Keys. Archbishop Joseph Alemany, first Archbishop of San Francisco, dedicated the church that same year with first pastor, Father Louis Rossi. Contractors were Peter Morrissey and Andrew Fisher but records do not disclose the name of the architect. Style of architecture for the redwood frame building is Carpenter’s Gothic." (See Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, "Tomales Catholic Cemetery," accessed 11/18/2016.) Contractors Morrissey and Fisher may have constructed the church from a pattern book design, and there may not have been an architect.

Father Rossi retired in 1862, when his health deteriorated, forcing him to retire. According to the history of Saint Rose Catholic Church in nearby Santa Rosa, CA, "He was succeeded as pastor of Tomales by Father Patrick Walsh, who came to [the mission church in] Santa Rosa about once a month for Mass. Tomales had a quick succession of pastors: Fathers Thomas Fagan, Peter Bermingham, Anthony Debase, William Slattery...." (See Saint Rose Catholic Church, "History of Saint Rose Parish," accessed 11/18/2016.)

A new load-bearing masonry church of the Assumption was erected between 1899 and 1901 to the designs of the prolific San Francisco church architect Frank T. Shea (d. 1929), but, because Tomales lies near the San Andreas Fault, it was damaged beyond repair in the huge San Francisco Earthquake of 04/18/1906. Parishioners reused the timber-frame 1860 church for worship, and it continues today.

PCAD id: 20745