Black and white image of a group of boys and men gathered to watch as a Catholic church official (likely a bishop) prepares to turn over a shovel full of earth. St. Mary's Boys' home was founded by the Catholic church in 1889 as an orphanage. While it was run by the Sisters of St. Mary's of Oregon for almost fifty years, in 1953 they withdrew from the home, though it kept their name. In the 1960s, it was a self-sufficient campus with its own dairy, orchards and livestock, providing a home for boys ages 6 to 14.
Black and white image of a group of boys and several adults watching as a priest ceremonially breaks ground with a shovel. Though the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon were no longer affiliated with the school after 1953, the school today retains the 'St Mary's' name as the modern iteration of the orphanage which first brought the sisters to Beaverton in 1891.
Black and white image of a Carpenter Gothic church with an eight-sided steeple. A boardwalk runs along the side of the church, and a power line with two crossbars is just visible in the right side of the image. Dedicated in 1902, the first masses in the Church were celebrated in both English and German because most of the parishioners were of German or Swiss descent.
Wood building has three levels and basement. It served as both the church and school when it was built in 1913. It was at the intersection of present-day SW Canyon Road and SW Hall Street and was torn down in the 1940s.
