The Old Adobe Mission Tour sold out quickly. Thanks to organizer Lynn Wood with Katie Tovar taking pictures.
The Mission originated as Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) Catholic Church and built by hand by the Mexicans who settled in Scottsdale in the late 1910s. It was designed by Robert T. Evans in a Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style similar to others he had seen in Sonora and New Mexico.
More than 14,000 adobe bricks were used for the construction. They were each made from a blend of native clay, silt, sand, straw, dung, and water. They weighed 50 pounds and were carried and placed by hand.
1931: The Mexican community begins to collect donations to build a new church
1932: The church is named Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) Mission
1933: The church is completed
1940s: The wooden box altar used by visiting priests is replaced with an altar from All Saints Church in Tucson
1949: The church becomes a parish on November 25
1950s: Guadalupe and Miguel Dominguez donate a hand-carved statue of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
1952: Rev. Eugene Maguire is named the second pastor
1953: The community celebrates the Miracle of the Roses pageant with a parade and a play recreating the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in Mexico on December 13, 1531. Over 7,000 people, including governors and ambassadors, attended the annual festivities
1956: To accommodate a growing parish, a larger church and school are opened at 2nd Street and Miller Road
1957: The original church is used by various organizations, including Knights of Columbus, Boy Scouts, and catechism classes
1967: The last Miracle of the Roses is held by the Mexican community
1977: The original church is leased to the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra
