401 Sopris Avenue
Crested Butte, CO 81224
(970) 349-0304
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Queen of All Saints is the second Catholic church in Crested Butte. St. Patrick's Church, founded in the mid 1880's to provide a spiritual and physical meeting place for the many Catholic immigrants coming to work in the mines, was built by the hard work and sacrifice of many people. The church was situated on Maroon St, and was named for the favorite saint of many hard rock mining towns. As far as can be ascertained, St. Patrick never worked in a mine, but the Irish who first worked in Crested Butte had a definite affinity for the Saint and his name.
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Gradually Slovenian, Croation, Yugoslavian, and Hispanic workers came to Crested Butte and replaced the original settlers. As the mines lost business and influence, more and more people pulled out of town, but enough remained to keep the church alive and healthy. In 1961 it was decided that a new church needed to be built and land was purchased on the Big Hill on Sopris Ave., a hill which was a very popular winter sledding hill.
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In 1962 the new church which was built and landscaped by the hard work of contractors and local parishioners (some of the building process was captured on early home movies), was dedicated as a prayerful church with the shape of the praying hands and also the shape of Crested Butte mountain as seen from the north. The people of the parish with the help of the Extension Society began the long process of paying off the $75,000 debt. In 13 years that debt was paid off and the parishioners had a wonderful mortgage burning ceremony to mark completion of the sacrifice and hard work.
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That sacrifice and hard work continues with many more parishioners involved now in religious education, youth ministry with the O Be Joyful and UCC churches, upkeep of the new parish hall built in 1995 and outreach to parishioners and visitor alike. Since Crested Butte has become a vacation destination, Queen of All Saints has become a spiritual vacation destination as well. Our prayer is that we always can fulfill the needs of all our parishioners and visitors alike.
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