Holy Family Cathedral History
The First Church Edifice by John Bagoy
Chapter 1
The City, first known as Ship Creek, was established as a tent city in 1913-14. As early as 1910, there were three homesteaders on Ship Creek Flats, who were primarily trappers, prospectors and others. From the areas of Knik, Hope, Sunrise and Matanuska, the people established themselves into what is now Anchorage.
With the railroad construction almost complete, a townsite of 347 acres was laid out on the south side and on top of the hill from Ship Creek. The lots of 50 feet by 140 feet were offered for sale at auction on July 10, 1915.
Among the many workmen in Anchorage, there were about thirty Catholic men. They formed a group in the new community and a gentleman named Thomas McLaughlin wrote a letter to the Bishop of Seattle requesting that a priest be sent to Anchorage. Fr. Crimont, who was the Prefect Apostolic of Alaska, sent Fr. John Vander Pol, S.J. to Anchorage to check out the story of need for a priest. Fr. Vander Pol was living in Valdez. He however, sent Fr. William Shepherd in his place. Fr. Shepherd spent two weeks in the Anchorage townsite and offered Mass on Sundays in the Robarts Hall and also in the Crist House, a hotel located on the corner of 4th and K streets, later known as the Inlet Hotel.
With a favorable report sent by Fr. Shepherd, Fr. Vander Pol authorized an old friend, formerly of Valdez, A. J. Tony Wendler, to act on his behalf and to purchase property for the construction of a church.
(Information given here was taken from the Inlet Times, Anchorage Daily Times, Sisters of St. Ann History)
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Chapter 2
A. J. "Tony" Wendler, with the blessing of Fr. Vander Pol, bid on two lots, namely Lots 11 and 12, Block 54, Original Townsite. This would be the northwest corner of 6th and H street.
There being no minimum bid called for, Tony opened the bidding with a price of $175.00, as this was all of the cash he had available on his person. As soon as the auctioneer, Andrew Christenson, acknowledged the bid, and before he could ask for another bid, Tony bellowed out, "These lots are for a church and a hospital." Christenson in turn, dropped the gavel and closed the bidding and awarded the bid to Wendler.
Tony immediately contacted Fr. Vander Pol, advising him of the good fortune and "luck." Fr. Vander Pol immediately repaid Tony and received the deed to the property.
Fr. Vander Pol was an amateur designer, and came up with a simple design of wood frame construction, 24' by 48' feet. A veneer of ornamental cement block was chosen for the siding. The design had three pews, and the outside of the church had on identity as being a house of worship, however with the limited funds available, Fr. Vander Pol pushed ahead and completed the first basic construction at the rock bottom price of $1400.00
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Chapter 3
The story that Holy Family Church was the first church edifice in Anchorage is somewhat open to conjecture. The Christian Science Church and the Episcopal Church were both in operation prior to the Catholic Church, but not in a church, so to speak. They both had been holding services in Robarts Hall, the Empress Theater and other locations, as had Holy Family. However on the 15th of December, 1915, the Blessed Sacrament was tabernacled in the new church, thus making it the first church edifice in Anchorage with Mass being held prior to any other church being occupied.
Money was extremely tight for Fr. Vander Pol with income at around ten to twelve dollars per week. Help came from the Catholic Extension Service, who donated $550.00 for the cause. This helped relieve the payment for the lots and construction. The donation was from Frances Drymalle, who designated that the premise of the gift was that the church be named Holy Family. It was and still is.
Ground was broken for the new church on the 14th of September, 1915 and must have caused a great celebration, especially among the thirty men who wrote that first letter to the bishop. Many of these men still reside in Anchorage at the AnchorageMemorialCemetery, Catholic Tract #5. Some of them are Mike Babich, James Byer, C. H. Murphy, Dan McGinnis, Jim Ryan, Dan Kelleher, William Misich, Tony Martinovich and Mike Hegarty. We can only speculate as to who all of them are, however death records indicate they had Extreme Unction and Confession prior to death. Many causes of death were listed: accidental, natural, cancer, diabetes, blood poisoning, etc. However all of them were devout in their beliefs and kept the faith.
The first priest assigned to the new parish was Father Shepherd. He was born in Oakland, California in 1874 and at the time of his assignment to Anchorage he was 41 years old and had been assisting Fr. Vander Pol for three years.
(Chapters I-III, "The First Church Edifice in Anchorage", Cook Inlet News, Knik News, Anchorage Times, and the Sisters of St. Ann all contributed information given here., plus some "stories" told and retold over the years.)