History - Local Memories

(author unknown)

The first church was completed in 1870 and is still standing. It originally had a mud floor sprinkled frequently to keep it firm. This was the first Roman Catholic Church in central Arizona. Its foundation is basalt rocks butted together with mud mortar. The membership was 600 and services were conducted every Sunday in Spanish. On the occasion of the baptism of his twin sons, Edwin and Edward, John J. Devine donated a bell, brought from San Francisco, which was installed in 1879. This bell was transferred to the second church.

The second church was completed in 1884 and was destroyed by fire on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in 1893. It was located at the site of the present rectory. This was the last church in Arizona dedicated by Bishop Salpointe before his appointment to Santa Fe. The Church plaza was used as a gathering place for the soldiers of Gen Nelson A. Miles in the 1894 Apache campaigns. The church burnt down on the Feast of the Assumption in 1893 when candies used in celebration of the Parish feast day ignited curtains and other decorations. The bell was removed from the belfry during the fire "red hot and cracked by water", For the next 18 years, services were held in the original church.

The third church was completed in 1911 and is still in use. It was dedicated by Bishop Granjon in May of 1912. It was supposed to have a curved dome-like ceiling, but money was scarce and a temporary ceiling was installed; the curved ceiling was never finished. The present bell was installed at the time of the building of the church. The Arizona State Historic Property Inventory states: "This church is probably the best and most imposing example of the Mission Revival Style in Central Arizona. Mission Revival is an architectural mode which originated in California about 1887, in response to the new appreciation in California of the state's earlier Hispanic heritage. Mission Revival was adapted from the Baroque style of the early Spanish Colonial mission churches of both California and Texas and appeared in Arizona during the opening years of the 20" century. Although an adaptation of Spanish Colonial architecture, this style basically was yet another example of the kind of cultural "importation" typical of the Eclectic Era (1880-1930).

Convent

The sisters of St. Joseph came to Florence in 1883, from Tucson or San Xavier. St. Teresa's Academy, a convent and school was located in the buildings that had formed the original church. The convent itself was a separate building next to the old church. The windows of the dormitory were so low that the sisters were often frightened by horses sticking their heads in the window. Centipedes and scorpions forced the sisters to check shoes and clothes carefully each morning before putting them on. Sister Agnes Orosco taught music, prayers and other classes to the children in Spanish because she didn't speak English. Sister Isabella Walsh also taught classes. Mother Hyacinth was the Superior. There were 80 students enrolled. Classes were held for the girls through the 8th grade, but the boys education ended with the 4th grade. Tuition was paid in honey and potatoes, so the sisters had very little money. The sisters got their water from a barrel near a canal close to the grounds. The Sisters Of St. Joseph left and the school was closed in 1887. Sisters of Mercy came to the parish at a later date.