Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming: This Church was put in place in the early 1950s due to the expansion of the City of Casper, and has an unusual history. The church it...

Our prior entry, done quite some time ago, lacked an interior shot.  I could have simply added it to the old post, and I likely will, but here it is as a separate entry. More detail on the Church appears in the original entry.

 

Saints Peter and Paul Mission, Haleiwa, HI

Photos from a moving vehicle are always difficult, so this only gives you a glimpse of this Catholic mission church in Haleiwa, O'ahu, Hawaii.

On the island's northeast shore, this Catholic mission church was built in 1953 and is served by St. Michael's Parish.

 

St. Bernard's Catholic Church, Belfield North Dakota.

One of four Catholic Churches in Belfield, North Dakota, this beautiful Romanesque style church dates back to the 1950s.

First Lutheran Church, Watford City, North Dakota.

This Gothic style church is the First Lutheran Church in Watford City, North Dakota. The church was originally built in 1915, expanded in 1939, but destroyed in a fire in 1945.  The church was rebuilt in 1950.

Christ United Methodist Church, Casper Wyoming

Another one of the many Casper churches I hadn't gotten around to photographing, Christ United Methodist Church as photographed out my Jeep windshield. 

I don't know the history of this church but it likely dates to the 1950s.  It hasn't always been a Methodist church and in fact was part of a swap by this congregation for another building they had to another denomination as each of their respective buildings worked better for the other.

Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church, Pinedale Wyoming

This is Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Pinedale, Wyoming.   Construction of the church commenced in November, 1959 (in the winter!) and was completed in 1960.  There are plans to renovate the church given the increase in parishioners over the years.

St. Anthony's of Padua Convent, Casper Wyoming

Not a church, but a former convent located next to the former St. Anthony's School, which can be seen to the right of this photograph. This convent included a chapel within it. It has not served as a convent for many years. This building is located one block from Our Savior's Lutheran Church, also depicted on this blog, and St. Mark's Episcopal Church is located on the next block, across the street from the school.  The structure was built in 1954.

Postscript:  

An article in today's Casper Star Tribune reveals that his building has been converted into luxury apartments, with no two being the same as no two rooms in the building were the same.  It is presently at 60% occupancy.  The developer, who owns the neighboring school, chose the name The Marian for it, recalling its role as a convent.  The plan noted in the comments fell through, and he came up with this new one.

Date of original post:  January 25, 2011.

Date of update:  December 20, 2015.

Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming

Our Savior's Lutheran Church is on the same block as the First Baptist Church, also pictured on this blog. This is the smallest of the downtown churches, with an interior area that is relatively small in this traditionally styled church.

The church was built in 1950, one year after the First Baptist Church on the same block. This construction is late compared to other downtown Casper churches.

In 2014 this church added a sculpture, as part of a Boy Scout Eagle Scout project which is a Maltese Cross if viewed from the side, but is the Ichthys symbol if viewed straight on. Very nice addition.

Many years ago I defended a lawsuit in which a bicyclist was injured when the cap came off of his mountain bike shocks while riding down the stairs that are on the back of this church. The defendant was a bicycle shop, not the church.

Updated:  December 7, 2014.

St. Anthony's of Padua Catholic Church, Cody Wyoming

This is St. Anthony's of Padua Catholic Church in Cody Wyoming. This Catholic Church is the largest parish in the United States, in geographic extent, as it covers over 6,000 square miles of territory.  The Romanesque style church was built in 1954, replacing an earlier church.  It's one of two Catholic Churches named for St. Anthony's of Padua, the other church so dedicated being located in Casper.

Zion Lutheran Church, Laramie Wyoming

This is Zion Lutheran Church in Laramie Wyoming.

St. James the Less Catholic Church, Ulupalakua, Maui Hawaii

This is St. James the Less Catholic Church in Ulupalakua, Maui, Hawaii.  It's a mission church served by Our Lady Queen of Angels, which is actually fairly close to it on the same highway.  Being used to the large distances of most rural areas of the West, to find two churches of the same faith so close together is surprising, but even in such locations as Denver Colorado that still occurs, so perhaps this should not be surprising.  This church is actually older that Our Lady Queen of Angels and the original church built in this location was constructed at least as early as 1875, with missionary activity having dated back to the 1850s.  The current structure was built in 1950 and renovated in 2002.

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming

This Church was put in place in the early 1950s due to the expansion of the City of Casper, and has an unusual history.

The church itself was built during World War Two, and served as the Casper Air Base chapel, at what is now the Natrona County International Airport. When the population of Casper expanded in the 1940s, making a second Catholic church necessary, the real property where this church was located was purchased from Harry Yesness, with 10 acres of ground being acquired. The church itself was moved from the airport to this location in 1953.

Upon being moved, the church was substantially reconstructed and remodeled. Additionally, remodeling occurred in the past decade, given the church it's current appearance. The substantial grounds upon which the church is located originally included a small rectory, an office building, and a very small school. However, the school was never used as such. More recently (last year) St. Anthony's Tri Parish School was built on these grounds, and the city's only Catholic school is, therefore, located on the Our Lady of Fatima grounds.

Interior, Christmas Eve Mass, December 24, 2023.

Epilog:

I recently ran across this photograph of what is now Our Lady of Fatima at the Wyoming Veterans Museum at the Natrona County International Airport.   This photograph depicts the church as it appeared at the time it was an Army Air Corps Base Chapel.

This is an item, also as the Wyoming Veterans Museum, for base services. 

Christ the King Catholic Church, Gering Nebraska

I did a very poor job of photographing this church, as I failed to really investigate the full architecture at the time. What is visible in this photo is the 1996 addition to the 1958 church. The spire for the 1958 church is visible.  Had I paid more attention at the time, I would have photographed that portion of the church.

Anyhow, this Catholic Church in Gering Nebraska is an interesting example of a church having been substantially added to.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Glendo Wyoming

This is Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in the small town of Glendo, Wyoming. This church is served by the Parish in Douglas and was built in 1953.

St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, Buffalo Wyoming

This extraordinary church is located in Buffalo Wyoming. Construction was completed on this long dreamed of Roman Catholic Church in 1950. The architecture is quite unique for Wyoming, and very striking. Adding to it, the church sits on fairly spacious grounds.

Corpus Christi, Newcastle Wyoming

This is Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in Newcastle Wyoming. The church was built in 1951, but I otherwise do not know anything about this particular church. The architecture of this attractive Roman Catholic church is somewhat surprising.

The website for the churches served by this parish is here.

St. Margaret's Church, Riverton Wyoming

This Roman Catholic Church serves Riverton Wyoming. It was built in 1952. A Catholic School is located on the same block, just behind the church.

First United Methodist Church, Casper Wyoming

This church is located completely downtown, across from the Natrona County Public Library. It's exterior is deceptive in that the church is not as large as it might appear, as the church building includes interior rooms used by the church. The church itself is joined to a new meeting area off to the right.

Two tones of brick featured on the church suggest that it might have been built in two stages, or perhaps three, but I do not know this to be the case. The corner stone gives three dates, with the first being 1907, the second 1927, and the third 1951, so presumably this was the case.