Sacred Heart (circa 1890s)

In today’s posting we’ll be looking at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Cemetery out in central Alberta. Both date back to the 1890s, although the church building itself is not original to this property and moved here from elsewhere about fifty years ago. The cemetery still sees use, although most of the burials are from the early days. It’s a peaceful scene setback from the hustle and bustle of everyday.

The earliest burial here goes back to 1894 and is that of a little baby. Little CO Miquelon was but nine days old when taken and unnoticed by us at the time, there seems to be a second person in this same plot, a sibling we guess, based on the name. It appears to read CI Miquelon and any dates we can read differ. That additional lettering on the second side of the grave stone seems to be for a different person. Not sure how it was missed originally, yet here we are.

Unfortunately most of the words are hard to make out in our photo and that’s due to the angle. This second name does not show up in any burial records we searched, interestingly. Was it missed by everyone else, or are we way off track here? We’ll have to come back and check it out sometime in person.

You’ll notice this grave and others shown here are in French or display names of French origin. Sacred Heart was in service of Catholic settlers and a lot of their congregation came from Quebec. This group remains active today and the church seen in this post their first building. They’re now on their third.

There’s about a hundred and fifty folks buried in Sacred Heart and the newest from 2008. Most, however, predate the 1940s and the burials seemed to trail off after that period.

The church building used to sit in downtown Wetaskiwin Alberta and connected to the Sacred Heart Parish for only a few years before it became too small for their needs. A new church was built in 1912 and in use until the 1990s when the current building was constructed. These others are close to where the original Sacred Heart once stood (more in a moment).

In the meantime, this church functioned as a Catholic school for a few years and in the 1910s put to use by a Lutheran congregation who used it into the 1960s. When acquired by the group the building was moved to a different location a couple blocks away.

It presumably stood empty for a time after closing, then reacquired by the Catholic Church and moved once again to the present location. It’s well travelled, as buildings go. This happened in 1974 and while used for special services for a couple years, the church has not really seen any since.

It’s listed as the oldest church in Wetaskiwin and one of the oldest buildings in town overall. The community was founded in 1892 and obtained city status early the following century.

The church building has been historically recognized and while this affords some level of protection, it’s not a cure all. The building, as often happens with those that are vacant such as this, has been subject to vandalism. Time and weather have taken their toll as well. The grounds are still kept up but the building has not seen any real attention for some time. It takes money and historic stuff is often the last to receive any.

There’s still pews inside Sacred Heart Church, but otherwise it’s empty. Some windows are still in place, and a couple panes broken.

The highway calls and our stay here all too brief. I think we’ll have to return and capture more angles and maybe delve a little deeper. The photo have made us curious again and desirous of returning (this visit dates back a couple years). This was just a quick stop on the road to adventure and while these few snapshots are better than nothing, we regret not having the time to know it better. Old disused or abandoned churches are one of biggest obsessions and we try to capture them any chance we get.

Know more (new tab): Oldest Catholic Churches Alberta.

Once again, we hoped you enjoyed your stay and please visit often.

They’re saying…

”Their enthusiasm and dedication to the history of our Province and what and where certain things took place around our Province. Great work!” Brad Steck.

More abandoned Churches…
Holy Spirit Church Derwent Alberta.
Zion Lutheran Church.
Spaca Moskalyk Church.

If you wish more information on what’s seen here, don’t hesitate to: contact us!

Date of Adventure: July, 2020.
Location(s): Central Alberta.
Article references and thanks: Heritage Resources Management Information System, Findagrave.com and Sacred Heart Parish.

Through a broken pane, Sacred Heart Church.

The oldest grave in the attached cemetery.

Seems we’re not alone.

Here with God lies Helan Klien…

Most of the graves here are quite old (this one’s from 1908).

The church dates from the 1890s and used to sit in town.