By Parker Anderson

In 1889, Father Alfred Quetu, pictured last week, came to Prescott to take over Sacred Heart Parish. This would become a turning point for the church in Prescott, as Father Quetu did more to strengthen the local church than any of his predecessors had done.

Quetu set out to build a new church at 208 North Marina Street, at a cost of about $6000. It was designed by architect Frank Parker in old Gothic style, unlike any other building in northern Arizona Territory. Excavation of the site and construction of the basement commenced in 1891, but the beautiful church itself was not completed until 1894. The first services were held on February 17, 1895.

Father Quetu also saw the construction of a similarly designed church in Jerome, started a Catholic parish in Congress, opened the Sisters of Mercy Hospital, and started the educational facility of St. Joseph’s Academy, an all-Catholic school. On June 17, 1905 the graduation exercises for St. Joseph’s Academy were held in Prescott’s newly-opened Elks Opera House, with Father Quetu presenting the diplomas on stage.

As his predecessors before him had done, Father Quetu attended to the spiritual needs of murderers about to be executed in Yavapai County. He baptized the notorious outlaw Fleming "James" Parker the night before he was hanged on June 3, 1898 and also attended to the murderers Hilario Hidalgo and Francisco Renteria before their double execution in 1903.

On June 18, 1902 Father Quetu’s assistent, Father Edmond Claessen, died of typhoid fever at the age of 26. Father Quetu was in California for his health at the time and was unaware for a while of Father Claessen’s death. While 1902 accounts indicate he was buried in Citizen’s Cemetery, that cemetery’s records do not list him. It was widely accepted that Father Claessen was buried under the church altar, as was often the custom at that time.

Father Quetu, in declining health himself, left Prescott for good in 1908. He went to other parishes, including San Juan Capistrano, California. In 1997, author Ilse M. Byrnes self-published a biography of the noted priest entitled, "A Tribute to Father Alfred Quetu," which was sold largely in San Juan Capistrano.

The decades went by, and when the 1960s arrived, Prescott’s Catholic population had grown so large that the beautiful old church could scarcely hold them. Sacred Heart parishioners decided to build a new, larger church on the site of the then-razed St. Joseph’s Academy on Murphy’s Hill. The old church at 208 North Marina Street held its last religious services on June 13, 1969 and was decommissioned and sold to the newly founded Prescott Fine Arts Association, with much of the financing coming from PFAA’s benefactor, Norma Hazeltine.

When the new church was completed and the old one vacated, permission to exhume Father Claessen’s body was granted but, reportedly, they did not find him under the altar where he was believed to be buried, further adding to the mystery of where he was interred. Father Edmond Claessen is believed, by members of Prescott Fine Arts Association, to be the ghost who reportedly haunts the PFAA building, although the staff has taken to calling him Father Michael, a misnomer. Tales still abound of strange happenings in both the church and rectory include apparitions, doors opening and closing, lights on and off, and unexplained noises.

Prescott Fine Arts Association continues to this day as a theater and art gallery, entertaining audiences in the old church building for over 40 years. The old church on Marina Street stands as a tribute to its fine construction and its historical significance for Prescott. The church and rectory were listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 14, 1978.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Buc1042pa) Reuse only bypermission.

The original Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Marina Street shown here soon after its completion in the mid-1890s served Catholic parishioners until it was outgrown in the late 1960s. The Prescott Fine Arts Association acquired the property for a theater and art gallery in 1969 and continues to serve Prescott to this day.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb173f6i9) Reuse only bypermission.

The interior of the Sacred Heart Church in the early 1900s.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(Kathy Krause courtesy photo) Reuse only by permission.

The Sacred Heart Catholic Church built on Marina Street in the 1890s was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 14, 1978.