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. 

Grace Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming

This modern architecture Lutheran church arguably is outside of the architectural focus of this blog, but as the church is located on the edge of Casper's downtown district it is included for completeness.

This small church replaced an older, more traditionally styled church, several decades ago. I know very little about the church other than that I've been inside of it once to attend a wedding and it's surprisingly small. A class room type building adjoins it, and takes up much of the lot on which it sits.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Cathedral

This Cathedral's exterior, while impressive in its own right, is a bit deceptive as the interior is extremely impressive and very large. This is the Roman Catholic Cathedral for the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota.

St. Matthews Church, Gillette Wyoming

This is St. Matthews Roman Catholic Church in Gillette Wyoming. It's unusual contemporary design, unlike most of the churches featured here. It's quite hard to photograph, due to the large trees at the front of the church.

Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Lander Wyoming

These photographs depict Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Lander Wyoming. The same grounds are the temporary grounds for the Wyoming Catholic College.

I am unsure when this church was built. A preserved 1928 corner stone for the original Holy Rosary church is preserved as a memorial, but obviously, this church was not built in 1928.

This church is a bit unique in that, while it is a Roman Catholic Church, it does feature an Eastern Rite Mass (Byzantine Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) such as is used in Ukrainian Catholic Churches. This is done in order to accommodate Eastern Rite Catholics attending the College.