Old St. Mary's Church 660 California Street Built in 1909

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In 1850, San Francisco became a part of a newly formed Monterey diocese.  San Francisco became the headquarters and in 1854 the construction of Old St. Mary's began.  The materials for the Church came from all over the world as did the congregation.  Due to the notorious surroundings of the Church, it was decided a new facility would be built on O'Farrell at Van Ness Avenue.  With the growing violence of Chinatown, it became a Chinese mission.  It survived the 06 earthquake but the inside was gutted with the fires.  The new Church was dedicated in 1909.  With the Chinese secret gangs disappearing over the years, the Church opened its views to Christianity and began reaching out to the rest of the world.