Key Number:	HS 75448
Site Name:	St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church
Other Names:
Site Type:	1603 - Religious: Church, Cathedral or Chapel

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			2	26	4

Address:
Number:
Street:
Avenue:
Other:
Town:
Near Town:	Cardston

Media

Type	Number	Date	View
Digital scan of Negative Digital scan of Negative Digital scan of Negative Digital scan of Negative	68-R0082-13A 68-R0082-14A 68-R0082-15A 68-R0082-16A	1968/01/01 1968/01/01 1968/01/01 1968/01/01	front front interior - sanctuary interior - sanctuary

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular
Storeys:	Storeys: 1
Foundation:
Superstructure:
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Medium Gable
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church is a one storey wood frame structure used as a church since its construction in 1901. No other buildings or structures occupy the immediate area of the site. The overall integrity of the building is high since no major changes have been made to its interior of exterior. St. Stephen's Church was constructed of wood using a rectangular plan. It has a gable roof capped by a belcote on the roof-ridge and it has rectangular windows. A small sanctuary attached to the building is separated from the main body of the church by a small railing.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Lying north of the south limit of roadway Plan 3668 BM. St. Stephen's Church is located in a rural setting, without any other buildings in its immediate area. The landscaping around the building consists only of a lawn. The entire area covered by the site also includes a cemetery and a commemorative cairn, both of which are located away from the actual site of the church.
Condition:	N/A
Alterations:	The overall integrity of the building is high since no major changes have been made to its interior of exterior.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started Rebuilt	1901/01/01 1907/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Church services and community events Church	1901/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church is located in what was once the rural community of Harrisville. The community was made up of immigrants from a diverse number of ethnic backgrounds who were united in their Roman Catholicism. Harrisville was thus an enclave of European and Canadian settlement in an area settled predominantly by American Mormons. Members of the community inluded Mike and Sophie Olshaskie, who emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1890 and eventually settled in the Harrisville district in 1900. The Albert Gales family originally emigrated to Canada from France in the mid-1890s. After working in the Lethbridge Coal Mines, he and his brother moved to a homestead in the Harrisville district in 1900. Richard Vadnais and his family, who were originally from Quebec, had lived for some years in Montana before settling in southern Alberta. The social development of the community was organized around St.Stephen's Church and the school district. Catholic church services were originally conducted in the homes of the settlers by Oblate priests from Standoff. The Standoff mission had been established in the 1880s as part of the Oblate mission in southern Alberta. In 1900 the community made the decision to construct a church. In December of that year, the men of the area made the trip to Mcleod with six teams and sleighs to purchase materials for the building. Volunteer labour provided by the area residents completed the church in August 1901. It occupied land provided as a grant from the Crown in February 1901 to the Catholic Church. After the building was damaged by high winds in 1901 and 1904, it was rebuilt at its present location in 1907. The construction and appearance of St. Stephen's Church was typical of churches in many small rural congregations during the settlement period. It significance in the history of the Catholic Church in southern Alberta, however, goes beyond its role in the actual community of its location. It represents a widespread effort at Roman Catholic mission in a region where the small number of Catholic settlers made it difficult to origanize and sustain Catholic congregations. These difficulties were particularly apparent in Whisky Gap, Del Bonita and Cardston. The oldest Roman Catholic chapel in the extreme southern portion of the province, St. Stephen's Church at Harrisville reminds visitors of a significant mission effort in a unique south-western Alberta pioneer situation. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church is an excellent example of a mission style church. This style generally emerged among frontier communities in Alberta where its utilitarian design made it adaptable for use in the construction of schools, homes, government buildings and religious structures. Mission church architecture was influenced primarily by the need to provide a building using readily available and inexpensive building materials as well as volunteer labour with little or no architectural training. Given these economic constraints on the project, it was difficult to follow the theoretical dictactes of a particular historical architectural style. Like all mission churches, St. Stephen's Church was constructed of wood using a rectangular plan. It has a gable roof capped by a belcote on the roof-ridge and it has rectangular windows. A small sanctuary attached to the building is separated from the main body of the church by a small railing. St. Stephen's Church is therefore an example of a typical rural parish church building. Buildings similar to it were also constructed in many new centres during their initial stage of development.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:

Register:

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: