Early Beginnings

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In the early 1880s, Jesuit priests, including Father Cataldo, visited Genesse to hold Mass in settlers' homes. By 1887, Rev. Alexander Diomedi celebrated Mass monthly in Genesse, which increased to twice a month in 1889 when Father Francis Hartleib moved to Moscow. Plans to build a Catholic church started in February 1889, with construction beginning in June. By April 1890, the church was finished, and the Genesse Advertiser announced services at the new church. St. Mary's Church, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception on July 13, 1890, by Bishop A. J. Glorieux, confirmed sixteen parishioners that day.

The Catholic cemetery was acquired around 1889 or 1890. The church bells were installed in 1893, with the largest bell surviving a fire in 1961 and displayed in the church's parking lot. The Benedictines opened a school in the parish in 1896, using rooms in the old church. Rev. Remi Keyzer led the project for the first school building in 1900. Parishioners built the school's bricks and sold unusable ones for supplies. The school was completed and dedicated to St. Joseph in 1900. In 1900 or 1901, the parish held a horse show, starting the Harvest Festival, its annual fundraising event, which initially lasted three days like a summer carnival. During the Depression, it became a one-day bazaar with a chicken lunch and sausage dinner, eventually serving sausage most of the day. In 1904, Bishop Glorieux held the first synod of the Diocese of Boise at St. Mary's Church, marking a significant event for the local Catholic community.

The Knights of Columbus Council No. 1554 received its charter on April 23, 1911, and remains active in the parish. On June 29, 1948, Rev. John S. Harrington, S.J. celebrated his first High Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Genessee, marking the first time a parish member did so. Court Mother Cabrini No. 1778 of the Catholic Daughters of America was formed in the parish on March 10, 1958. Ground was broken for a new school on June 9, 1959, with an open house on January 17, 1960. The school was dedicated on May 3 of that year. St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Genessee was destroyed by fire on September 30, 1961, in just 1.5 hours. Father McCarthy and parish members then held Masses in the multipurpose room of St. Mary’s School, built the previous year.