Fairbanks, Alaska

While doing writer research in Fairbanks, Alaska, earlier this year, I made it a point to attend daily Mass at the historic Immaculate Conception Church in Fairbanks. What a fascinating story I found between liturgies.

In the late summer of 1901, Captain E.T. Barnette rode his borrowed vessel, Lavelle Young, 12 miles up the Chena River until shallow water cut his journey short. Barnette unloaded his cargo, constructed log cabins and, with his wife, established a trading post.

The initial campsite was named Barnette’s Landing. Eventually Barnette would ask Federal Judge James Wickersham to set up a district courthouse and, by way of appreciation, offer to change the settlement’s name to Wickersham.

The courthouse was indeed established, but the judge asked that the growing town be named Fairbanks in honor of his friend Charles Warren Fairbanks, who was then a senator from Indiana. (He would go on to serve as U.S. vice president under President Theodore Roosevelt.)

In 1902, Italian prospector Felix Pedro discovered gold 12 miles from the post. Word spread quickly and a rush was on.

Because many of the arriving prospectors were Catholic, the Jesuit prefect for Alaska, Father Joseph Crimont, assigned Jesuit Father Francis Monroe to build a church for the community and establish a missionary outreach to the natives.

Father Monroe raised money for the church by going camp to camp, asking for donations. He also requested the help of the prospectors on the construction project.

The day following his arrival, Father Monroe celebrated Mass at a private home. On the following Sunday, he celebrated the first public Mass in Fairbanks in the district-court building.

He founded Immaculate Conception and celebrated its first Mass on Nov. 1, 1904, the feast of All Saints. A century and three years later, its parishioners recall their spiritual home’s rugged beginnings with gentle joy on Dec. 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Icy Travel

Father Monroe saw to it that both the interior and exterior of the church, which holds 150 people, reflected traditional architecture. He chose a decorative tin in a fleur-de-lis pattern for the walls and ceiling. This pressed tinwork added a special beauty to the church and even today has a certain charm. Its intricate design seems slightly out of place in the woods of the Far North.

Subsequently Father Monroe built St. Joseph’s Hospital on the north side of the Chena River, a ways downstream from the church. Because the church and hospital sat on opposite sides of the river, the priest could often be seen scurrying back and forth across the bridge.

Father Crimont, the prefect, suggested a solution: Move the church from the south side of the river to the north, right next to the hospital. Many of the parishioners were skeptical about the feasibility of the plan, but Father Monroe decided to give it a try and trust God.

When the Chena River froze in the late November of 1911, Father Monroe drew two parallel lines 30 feet apart on the ice. He cut holes along the lines at eight-foot intervals. Vertical logs were placed in the holes, hammered down into the mud of the river bottom and allowed to freeze in place.

The tops of the logs were then sawed off, leaving two-foot posts exposed above the ice. After horizontal timbers were placed on the posts, the church was pulled 400 feet across the frozen river. It was positioned atop a full basement that had been built ahead of time, and there it stands to the present day.

A parish hall was completed in the basement in 1912. It’s now called Murphy Hall in memory of a former pastor, Father Cornelius Murphy.

During the spring of 1914, a statue of the Immaculate Conception was placed above the front doors. The Blessed Mother, larger than life-size, smiles upon folks who frequent the Golden Heart Plaza, which graces the nearby banks of the Chena.

A bell was installed in 1916 and named Margaret Mary in honor of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom Our Lord gave the Sacred Heart devotion. Stained-glass windows were added in 1928. A lovely grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes was placed adjacent to the church; this is the site of a crowning each May 1.

Twice Warmed

The Territory of Alaska became the 49th United State on Jan. 3, 1959. On Aug. 8, 1962, the Diocese of Fairbanks was officially established as a missionary diocese under the auspices of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, Vatican department in charge of missions.

In the absence of a diocesan cathedral, Immaculate Conception Church, fondly known as the Little Church, became the pro-cathedral for the Diocese of Fairbanks. That changed in 1966, when Sacred Heart Cathedral was dedicated.

The Fairbanks Diocese was canonically divided into Immaculate Conception parish and Sacred Heart Cathedral parish on New Year’s Day, 1969.

At this writing, Immaculate Conception Church is administered by diocesan priests who have replaced the Jesuit missionaries. The primary parishioners of the parish are Inuit and American Indian.

The Immaculate Conception Church, which visitors find to be homey and conducive to prayer — and that includes this researcher-visitor — was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 1973.

Considering Alaska’s well-deserved reputation for long, cold winters, the Blessed Mother — the Immaculate Conception — must have been as warmed by that news as I was by the story I found here. Not to mention the faith.

Joseph Albino writes from

Syracuse, New York.

Information

Immaculate Conception Church

115 North Cushman St.

Fairbanks, AK 99701-2830

(907) 452-3533

Email: [email protected]
Web: alaska.net/~icc

Planning Your Visit

On weekdays, to accommodate the working parish members, daily Mass is celebrated at 12:10 p.m. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 7:30, 9:15 and 11 a.m.; Saturday Vigil is at 5:30 p.m. Confessions are heard daily prior to daily Mass, plus Saturdays at 4 p.m.