Old Mission State Park
Mission · Cataldo, Idaho
The Mission of the Sacred Heart at Cataldo, built between 1850 and 1853 and the oldest standing building in Idaho. Father Antonio Ravalli, an Italian Jesuit, drew the design and had the Coeur d'Alene people build it themselves so that it would be theirs - wattle and daub over a timber frame, raised without a single nail. Inside, the decoration is what was to hand: fabric from the Hudson's Bay Company, hand-painted newspaper from Philadelphia used as wallpaper, chandeliers cut from tin cans, statues carved by Ravalli, and a blue got out of pressed huckleberries. It has been a National Historic Landmark since Independence Day 1961.
31732 South Mission Road, Cataldo, Idaho, 83810, United States
Open year round with an Idaho state park vehicle entry fee. ⚠ THE VISITOR CENTRE AND THE SACRED ENCOUNTERS EXHIBIT KEEP SEASONAL HOURS - full through roughly May to October and reduced in winter - so check before travelling if the exhibit matters to you. The church interior is open during park hours and there is no separate charge for it. ⚠ IT IS STILL A CONSECRATED CHURCH: occasional services and funerals take precedence, and THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION PILGRIMAGE IN MID-AUGUST puts the mission into full religious use for the day. Visitors are welcome then as guests rather than as sightseers. Run by Idaho Parks and Recreation on a long lease from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise.
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