First Mass

August 10, 1850

Documentation

• Diocese of Sacramento — History

Notes

On August 10, 1850, Father Peter Augustine Anderson, O.P., celebrated the first recorded Mass in Sacramento at a private home on 5th and L streets, during the early Gold Rush. The occasion drew California's first governor, Peter Burnett, who donated land (at 7th and K streets) for what became the first of four churches dedicated to Saint Rose of Lima. Tragically, Father Anderson succumbed to cholera less than three months later, ministering to the afflicted. This entry came out of a search of the Diocese of Sacramento's own website, which documents this historic celebration and its significance to the young diocese.