Catholics have been in Moscow since its early days. The first Masses were celebrated by Father Alexander Diomedi, the Lewiston pastor, in the 1870s at parishioners’ homes. The parish organized in the 1880s and officially began holding Mass in a downtown building on July 25, 1882, which served as a skating rink and dance hall. Unfortunately, this building burned down two years later.

The first dedicated Catholic church, named Holy Trinity, was built in 1887 and dedicated in 1889, located at what is now the County Library Annex on the corner of Jefferson and Adams across from Russell School. In 1893, it was moved to First and Howard, where our parking lot is today. The Ursuline Sisters arrived in 1908 and opened the Ursuline Academy, the predecessor to St. Mary’s School.

In 1926, Father Oswald Mogg campaigned to build our current church. The name was changed to St. Mary’s in 1927 due to a $1,000 donation from an anonymous donor. Our Tudor/English Gothic church was dedicated on December 14, 1930, with a membership of 72.

The old church was remodeled in 1968 for meetings and a gym before being torn down in 1973 for the Family Center, dedicated in 1979, along with the parking lot. St. Mary’s has continued to grow and change since then. Today, we have a diverse community of Catholic Christians working to continue the mission of sharing Christ’s light in our world.