Heritage Corner is a weekly feature of the Bellevue Reporter. Material is provided by the

Eastside Heritage Center.

Bellevue’s first Catholic church was a mission associated with Kirkland’s Holy Family parish. The first services were held in the parlor of the Downey family home in the 1910s; a priest would travel from Kirkland to serve, then he would spend the night with the Downeys.

Hearing of the need for a permanent house of worship, Noe Lanier deeded the congregation a plot of land and a small wooden building on Main Street, near 108th Avenue Northeast. The brick building in this image was built on the site in 1926.

By 1961, the congregation had outgrown the building, and the city purchased the property for a library. Today the structure is home to Onvo.

To learn more about Bellevue and Eastside history, contact the Eastside Heritage Center at 425-450-1049 or visit www.EastsideHeritageCenter.org.