September 2, 1906 – Very Reverend Father Anthony Brennan, Provincial Superior of the Capuchin Franciscans, dedicated the order’s newly completed monastery adjacent to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church on Lansing Street. He also unveiled the Statue of St. Anthony of Lisbon, a gift from A. L. Gonsalves of Melburne.
Builder Fred W. Stickney began construction of St. Anthony’s and the monastery in March 1905. This church occupied the corner of the lot where the current church now stands, and the Beacon reported that the church would be “40×86 feet in size. Immediately west and adjoining snug up against the church, will stand the monastery. This building will be 30×71 feet, two stories high and will face the ocean on the west.” The monastery was a landmark for miles up and down the coast and for vessels at sea.
The brick foundations “required 27,000 bricks, 25 four-horse loads of sand, 25 barrels of lime, 38 cords of stone, and 20 barrels of cement.” A. F. Luiz supplied the lime and cement, windows and doors, and “a ton of nails.” Mike Nolan hauled 175,000 feet of lumber for the construction of the buildings, and every available local carpenter was employed in the endeavor. The construction crew included Fred Jarvis, Perley Maxwell, Pete Hansen, Alexander F. Carmichael, Wilder S. Pullen, John Staudacher, and Antone Pereira.
The church and monastery burned down in 1930. Only a few vestments from the church were saved, and all the records were destroyed. The current St. Anthony’s Catholic Church building was completed in 1931. The monastery was never rebuilt.
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