That Mass was first celebrated in Lanesville in 1850, and that services were held for several years in Village Hall? The Sacred Heart Church was erected between Lanesville and Bay View in 1876. Rev. Thomas Barry, officiating also at Rockport, had charge of the church for several years. Sunday school was organized in 1855. Mary Eva Phillips (1913 – 2010) was active in the Catholic Church, a member of the Carmelite order and a Eucharistic minister at the Sacred Heart Church in Lanesville.
The Church was decommissioned in 2005 and purchased by Geoffrey Richon. In 2006, Jim Flint was visiting from Seattle with some friends living in Salem and saw an ad for a church for sale. He had been searching for a church to buy in Seattle. Instead he found and fell in love with the Sacred Heart Church and purchased it from Richon in 2006. These are some before and after photos of the Sacred Heart Church (the front of the Church as it used to look, the back of the church now with Jim in the photo, the back of the church as it used to look, one of the stained glass windows as it still remains, a very old photo of the alter and another shortly before decommissioning, the view now looking toward the kitchen window where the alter used to be, and the reverse view looking away from where the alter was – in this shot you can see some of Les Bartlett’s scroll quarry photos on exhibit; the last photo is of two pieces of wood that Jim uncovered during renovations behind the old stairs. This to me was the coolest part. The pieces of wood are written on with pencil. The larger one says: “Joseph P. Hart 1877, Lanesville, Mass. Carpenter & Joiner (Dec. 14) Verry cold and windy day. No snow on the ground. I am building the stairs today. Yours _____ (can’t make that word out), J.P. Hart”. The smaller piece of wood simply says: “J.P. Hart Lanesville Decr. 14, 1877”. I just love this old message in a bottle kind of thing where someone long gone has left behind a part of him or herself to be discovered at some unknown future date. I’ve tried, unsuccessfully so far to find out anything about our carpenter, Joseph P. Hart.
Jim Flint has continued the community spirit of the structure by hosting monthly potluck and game (scrabble, cards, etc.) nights to allow the community to enjoy the majestic and beautiful space he has so lovingly created. Jim says that when he is sitting outside at the front of the house on Washington Street/127, he still occasionally catches people crossing themselves as they drive by.
E.J. Lefavour
www.khanstudiointernational.com
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