Our Lady of Sorrows Parish Church

The first modern Parish Church (1855-1865)

On July 29, 1855 the first church to bear the name "Our Lady of Sorrows" was consecrated with much ceremony. It had taken over a year to build church, the cornerstone having been placed on June 29 of the previous year by Father Jose Maria de Jesus González Rubio.

The primary builders of the church were apparently the students of the seminary college, the Apostolic College of Our Lady of Sorrows.  The college had been founded the previous year and was dedicated to the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows.  It was located near the corner of Figueroa and State, in the old Nicholas Den home which had been remodeled, with a chapel arranged inside.  Because the presidio chapel at this point was under decay, the parishioners used this chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows until a new church could be built.

Then, when the new church was built in that same area a year later, it continued under the same name and patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows, thus the church derived its name from the college.

The church was made of adobe, with tile roof and a brick floor and was 67 feet long, 23 feet wide (33 feet has also been reported) and 20 feet high.  The cost was $7,500.  Bishop Joseph S. Alemany, Jose de la Guerra and Manuel Jimeno each giving $500.  The remaining $6,000 was provided by Fr. González from "collections and special offerings."

Location

The exact location of this church is unknown.  It was either the northeast or southeast corner of State and Figueroa Streets.  Charles Huse, a keen observer and recorder of those times wrote in 1876 that this church "was erected on the site of the present Catholic Church."  That would have been the northeast corner.  Fr. Zephyrin Engelhardt, O.F.M., the noted historian of the missions and Missionaries of California was in agreement, but stated that it faced west.  Santa Barbara Mission Historian, Fr. Maynard Geiger O.F.M., was of the opinion that it was on the southeast corner on property given by the City of Santa Barbara to Fr. González in the summer of 1853. 

By this time, the Catholic Church had split California into two dioceses.  Bishop Alemany served the northern California diocese and Fr. Thaddeus Amat of Philadelphia was chosen to be the new Bishop of Monterey whose diocese would be southern California.  Bishop Amat reviewed his new domain and decided that Santa Barbara was the best location for his residency.  He arrived on December 2, 1855.

The new parish church structure did not last more than a decade.  Some later unverified accounts relate that a fire in 1863 damaged the church.  However, in August 1865, a fire did in fact destroy the church.  Rebuilding the church would not be easy because Santa Barbara was reeling from the effects of a disastrous drought in that year.

So Bishop Amat appealed to the people and pastors of San Francisco to contribute to fund a new church in Santa Barbara.

Our Lady of Sorrows (1867-1885)

The appeal was heard and funds were found to build a new church.

While the new church was under construction, the old Aguirre Adobe (northwest corner of Carrillo and Anacapa streets) served as a temporary church.  This adobe was also used by the Methodists and the Congregationalists.

The new church of Our Lady of Sorrows was completed in May of 1867.  The location of the new church was at the corner of State and Figueroa, with the front facing south towards the ocean.

Our Lady of Sorrows (1885-1904) The Two Towers

By the 1880's a number of handsome new Protestant churches had been erected with tall spires reaching to the heavens.  By comparison the Catholics were worshipping in what must have seemed an old mudbrick hut.

Father Jaime Vila undertook the modernization of the old adobe church by encasing it in brick, building the bases for two future towers and creating a more attractive facade.  The inside of the church was also upgraded, as recorded by Miss Mary E. Woods and Mrs. J.A. Callis in their memories of "Early Days in Our Lady of Sorrows Parish" in November 1939. 

"About the year 1885, Father Vila had the outer walls of the little church encased in brick, the room raised and divided into three arches, supported by wooden pillars.  On each side of the middle arch were figures of the twelve apostles."  At the altar were seven panels, each one depicting one of the seven sorrows of Mary.

Around this time the rectory was ready to upgraded.  The historic adobe, home of Nicholas Den, site of the College of Our Lady of Sorrows and home to Fr. Vila for nearly 30 years was torn down and in its place, a modern Victorian home was erected.

The Bell Towers - 1904

In 1904, the church undertook another major modification.  After nearly two decades, the long-awaited bell towers were added to the bases built during Fr. Vila's remodeling.  But it wasn't as easy as just building the two wooden towers and installing three bells.

One bell weighed 2,200 pounds and according to the paper, had come from Los Angeles, where it had been used as a fire bell until citizens complained that it "was too heavy and vibrated too greatly."  The second bell weighed in at 1,250 pounds and the third at 650.  The latter two bells were new and came from McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore.

To keep the vibration of the bells from cracking the old walls - to say nothing of the problem of supporting nearly two tons of swinging bells, concrete foundations was constructed inside the base and up through the towers.  Thus the weight and vibrations were confined directly to the wooden frame and not the adobe and brick.

The bells were blessed on Sunday, July 17, 1904, and installed the following week.  To get the bells in place, they brought inside the church then hoisted within the towers with ropes and pulleys to their proper placement.  The bells joyfully rang over the city on Sunday, July 24.

June 29, 1925

On Monday morning, June 29, 1925, at around 6:42, Santa Barbara was rocked for 19 seconds by an earthquake estimated at 6.2 on the richter scale.  Among the casualties that morning was the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows.  The brick facade sheared off most of the walls, the west tower collapsed and portions of the adobe and brick comprising the base of the east tower spilled out over the sidewalk and street, leaving the tower seemingly hanging in midair and exposing the timber framework that supported the bells. 

The engineer's report to the City Council was short and to the point: "Catholic Church a complete wreck.  Should come down at once." 

The archdiocese quickly sold the property for $300,000 to Mrs. Hattie G. Stockton, a widow who owned several downtown buildings as well as property in Montecito.  Three months later, on October 6, 1925, the morning Press reported the Catholic Church had bought the northwest corner of Anacapa and Sola streets from Anna Edwards for $65,000.

On Sunday, June 10, 1928, ground was broken for the new Our Lady of Sorrows Church.  The estimated cost was $150,000, ten times the cost of the previous church.

As for the old property, the church was razed, and on part of the property Mrs. Stockton built the beautiful La Arcada shops and offices.  But the corner of State and Figueroa was destined to be a gas station until after the war, when it, too, was replaced with shops and offices. 

Today, a tile plaque in La Arcada Court gives a brief history of the old church and reminds passerby of a time when this was the spiritual center rather than the commercial center of Santa Barbara.

By Neal P. Graffy

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