Hidden Bricks: Visits to St. James Proto-Cathedral and Grass Valley Park

The St. James Cathedral was founded to serve the Quebec Missionaries whom came to the Fort Vancouver area in the 1830s. The discharged fur traders (the ones making all the orphan babies) were begging the bishop in Montreal for priests. It is important to note the climate at the time was one of extreme fear, as the Whitman Massacre (see here) had just occurred. Things were very tense around then to say the least. 

From 12th Street

The original cathedral, a wooden structure located over near Fort Vancouver, was dedicated in 1846. There was a land dispute that started in 1853 that took 40 years over to resolve and went clear to the supreme court. The Church lost, and so the parish was moved to the current location (the land was purchased in 1872, a year after Hidden Brick Company was founded) instead.

On June 21, 1889 someone burnt down the old cathedral, but no one was ever charged in the crime. Priceless paintings that Bishop Blanchet brought back from his Missionary travels were saved from the fire, and six of them are still hanging in the current Proto Cathedral.

The cornerstone was placed July 24, 1884, the Sunday after the Feast Day of St. James the Greater. 

Somewhere in Belgium there is a church that is a duplicate of St. James, with the exception of the spires! Architect Donald McKay was credited with the building's design, but the plans likely came from the priests travelling through Mexico and Europe. A Google search does not yield an immediate sister church, she remains a mystery.

Yes... the grand old girl is actually a copy!

She has an older sister in Belgium somewhere. I'm looking for her online.

The cut stone that makes up the foundation (a Mother Joseph endorsed idea, also used in the Providence Academy) came from Camas. The red bricks are, of course, Hiddens. The altar and Stations of the cross inside the church are also from Belgium and hand carved.

The foundation and Hidden details.

The grounds outside are unlocked so you can walk through the peaceful brick path and enjoy the public art. The Church website advises the 12th Street doors unlock before Mass, but the west side door is open M-F 9-4, and the public are invited inside. Also, every day but Monday there's mass going on, so it's not hard to get inside here if you want to.

The original St. James bell cast in 1854 that was rung in the Cathedrals of the Nisqually (Seattle) Diocese is outside on the grounds.

The original first mass happened on November 25, 1838 at the Fort Vancouver stockade. The original parish counted 76 Catholics, mostly French Canadian and Iroquois men, women and children. A Priest named Father Blanchet created a teaching tool called "The Catholic Ladder", to indoctrinate the Native population into Catholic faith. A replica still sits outside the rectory here. 

Our Lady of Vancouver outside on the grounds

The Rectory - from 12th Street, a magical little building with castle-like details, 

Outside on 12th Street there's a mandala honoring our friend Mother Joseph. She pops in and out of the Church's early history, noted to have a special relationship with the 3rd Bishop of Nesqually, Edward J. O'Dea. O'Dea donated the statue of St. Patrick to the left side of the altar inside. He was the Bishop at the time of MJ's death in 1902, she called him "Little Eddie." She herself hand embroidered his vestments and slippers he wore at the September 8, 1896 consecration of the Cathedral.

Again, a testament to Mother's Joseph personality is the fact that O'Dea didn't dare move the diocese to the now larger parish in the Seattle area until after her death. Not even the church wanted to go against Mother Joseph's wishes. In 1907 they officially changed the name of the diocese from Nesqually to Seattle. The St. James website laments this stating, "But in the hearts of Vancouver parishioners even today, theirs was the mother church, forever the landmark cathedral for the birthplace of Catholicism in the Northwest."

There's a Mandala dedicated to Mother Joseph outside.

Mother Joseph formed statues cast in wax in the basement of the Providence Academy (I told you, she did EVERYTHING). She shaved hair off of her orphans for this wax statue of St. Lucian and also a statue of Baby Jesus that she made. St. Lucian is hidden inside the Cathedral, resting under the side altar. St. Lucian was a Roman martyr, and the church typically opens the keyhole panel to expose him during the Month of November.  The statue itself is believed to contain some of the relics from St. Lucian's crypt. 

Mother Joseph casted this wax effigy of St. Lucian and used orphan hair in its creation- yikes!

In 2008, the cathedral underwent a massive renovation. Old materials were ripped out and existing architectural features were further highlighted while the wood pews and the altar from Belgium were all refurbished. The biggest change of all was the painting of the blue ceilings and gold stars, designed to remind the parishioners of heaven. It gives me a Van Gogh vibe and I really like it.

Another interesting thing about this church is the high altar itself. Unlike our friends at All Saints Catholic Church who still face the audience for mass, the priests here made a decision to face the altar and the statues of the Blessed Virgin, St. James the Greater and St. Augustine. The church insists on their website that this isn't turning their back on the attendees, but leading prayer by example, and the priest will face and direct the audience at appropriate times.

Van Gogh Vibes

I didn't take a bunch of photos inside as I don't think its cool to be all weird in an active place of worship. You'll have to go see more inside with your own eyeballs, it's pretty cool and no one cared I was there.   

Saturday we went to Grass Valley Park (3211 NW 39th Ave), 14.4 acres in the City of Camas, Washington, a town about 20 minutes east of Vancouver. This newer  park has tennis and basketball courts, a baseball field, and a covered picnic area. The reason for our visit is the old Hidden bricks that have been reclaimed and reused:

Next to the covered picnic area.

There is absolutely nothing remotely spooky about this very normal park in an upper class residential area.

My theory around the bricks is evolving somewhat after visiting all of these sites. I still believe the bricks absolutely contribute to the hauntings. I also have now seen that having reclaimed bricks re-used in new sites does not seem to lead to any documented high strangeness.

Having multiple 1871-1904 Hidden bricks  in my own home (I had four in a stack as an experiment at one point) did not make anything weird happen. It seems like the bricks may have to be still set in the location they were intended to in order to be active - it's all of the old, original buildings where spooky things seem to happen.

I have recently mailed one of these 4 bricks to my bestie Jax on the East Coast. I'll let you know if anything weird happens when she gets it.

I also added one to my altar to see if it changes any of my magickal work.

Brick Mojo

Most "haunted" bricks are the 1871-1904 hand cuts, with the exception of the Carnegie Library/Historical Museum. That location with the unchanged building with the use of the original bricks is sitting on the old clay pit, so the slightly newer bricks there still have a "haunted" reaction.

Again, this is all just a working theory, and like any of us that are honest enough to admit, none of us have any idea what's actually going on but it sure is interesting to wonder about. 

Some of the best condition ones I have seen in my entire search. So sharp!!

Next week? We finally go inside the Providence Academy,  Mother Joseph's house built of cursed bricks. To say I'm excited is an understatement. That's the only original location left.

Hidden Bricks: more 26th/Kaufmann and a trip to Yacolt, WA

Friday I was driving by the old Hidden Brickyard, and I noticed that there was a whole different part of the Kaufmann property from Fourth Plain. It wasn't pouring rain, so of course, I had to stop and look around. Again, these were all taken from public spaces and DO NOT TRESPASS TO GEEK OUT OVER WEIRD STUFF.  

Crushed up bricks (rejects used for filler?) are unearthing themselves everywhere under the mud.

I was able to find the old blueprints to the 15th and Main brickyard at the historical museum but not a footprint of the newer factory grounds so it remains a bit mysterious.

I need a Go Go Gadget Ladder.

I really wish I could see in there a bit better as this looks like where the machinery was, during the actual molding process. I have no idea if the old machinery is still there or where it has ended up. So, I asked.

In the file at the historical library.

I have written a letter to the Hidden family asking where the equipment is, and if they would consider letting me have a closer look of the grounds... from the other side of the fence. 

It's basically a "Hail Mary" move, and I left out the part about my wild paranormal theory and stuck to my honest history geeking. You never know if you don't ask, right?

The tan building is a mini mart literally backed up to the Brickyard fence line.

I'd driven by this poor little tagged brick building a million times on my way to work and never looked twice at it.

I also discovered there was a fire here in 1982:

Another fun history footnote is that briefly, Santa Claus was receiving calls at the brickyard:

For Saturday's adventure we decided to go check out the Fargher Lakehouse Restaurant in Yacolt, WA (15519 NE Fargher Lake Hwy, Yacolt, WA 98675) as they have an internal wall built with antique bricks.

Additionally, Yacolt itself proved to be interesting. I mean, look what the city's website says about what the name Yacolt even means:

Fargher Lake is north of Vancouver (about a 40 minute drive) and due East of La Center.

So we had lunch near the haunted valley of the demons surrounded by Hidden Bricks. I sat through an hour of country music in this place. That's how deep the brick obsession has gone. 

Welcome to the Fargher Lakehouse restaurant. It's in the middle of nowhere, unless you live out in the country and are going hunting.  They have vegan and gluten free options for those with dietary restrictions. Dave and the kid had amazing club sandwiches. Don't go eat here if you're in a hurry, but the food is excellent.

A wall of reclaimed antique bricks lines the restaurant.

Insanely huge portions.

As noted before, they have an internal wall made up of antique bricks from the area, most of them Hiddens. The drive out feels very "Sasquatchy" for lack of better word, it has a wildness and energy to it that makes it feel like anything could happen. 

One of the older dates in the wall.

The oldest date I saw was on a brick from a Portland Builder, 1872.

What we noticed right away is all of the employees were wearing shirts that declared Fargher Lake "Never Normal."

The Mercantile across the street.

The Lakehouse was mostly filled with senior citizens having lunch, with a couple of blue collar workers having drinks in the bar. This is definitely a locals only sort of bar. My dad would have loved this place.

It didn't feel haunted in the slightest. Just in case, I pulled some cards. Once again, the Oracle made me nearly choke: 

Silence. Yep, feels pretty non-liminal in here despite the bricks.

I talked to the server and she ended up asking ME about the bricks. She had no idea what Hidden even meant, but she was very interested to learn about Vancouver's history, turns out.

The employees there didn't know why Fargher Lake is called "Never Normal Since 1921." She said she assumed it was just because they are "redneck town" but advised the shirts were available at the Mercantile across the street and they would likely know why not being normal is a big deal there. 

Should say since 1977, but whatever, I had to have it.

The Mercantile itself is a typical small town store with a bit of literally everything inside - tools, clothes, groceries etc. They have a huge, reasonably priced merch line of mugs, hats, shirts, coasters:

Again, the ladies working in the Mercantile had no idea why Fargher Lake was "Never Normal since 1921." 

"Oh, I don't know, we're just not normal," one answered. "Huh, I don't actually know. You ever ask the boss? No? Huh." They both seemed a bit perplexed they hadn't thought about it before. 

I then decided to get real weird and asked them if they thought it was because there are rumors of Sasquatch in the area. Both laughed nervously at the city girl and wouldn't answer. 

Never Normal.

Behind the Mercantile I found the windmill they have logoed on to everything. 

Found the windmill behind the Mercantile.

It's beautiful and peaceful in the haunted valley. It almost seems a place beyond time. Everything is slower, here.

Well, turns out a quick websearch helps us figure out what is so abnormal about Fargher Lake:

The rest of the story and a photo gallery Here. Seems like a pretty cool guy and project. I just might go back to Fargher Lake and look around again. I know a great place to eat out there now.

Soon we will have a report from inside the Brickhouse Bar and Grill and the Providence Academy after an official tour.

Hidden Bricks: 26th and Kaufmann Hidden Brickyard, Multiple Synchronicities

Before we dive into what happened at the Brickyard, I want to take a minute to give a shout out to my dude A.P. Strange, fellow Liminal.Earth Ambassador and Twitter Bestie for dropping some amazing knowledge on me.

Because he has a huge brain, he had a lot to say about what exactly is in the clay. Before I share A.P.'s thoughts, this is a good time to talk about that break after the Urban Barnhouse, as it involves My friend A.P. himself becoming part of this saga with an interesting Synchronicity.

As mentioned, after quickly leaving the Urban Barnhouse yesterday when feeling unsettled, we decided to shake off some bad mojo by taking a brief Vomit Hunt break.

One of the weird things I collect is old resin from the 1960s forward with random chunks of things inside. My favorite pieces look like actual puke. Anyway, there was a vintage store between the Urban Barnhouse and the Clark County Historical Museum/Carnegie Library. Vintage stores tend to feel "noisy" to me energetically anyway, so it was a perfect opportunity to look for vomit and shake off some bad vibes.

The shopping trip paid off, but what was interesting is one of the two things I snapped up was an old book on Houdini. I wasn't entirely sure that A.P. was into Houdini, but I thought I remembered him being super into him so I picked it up for a ridiculously low price. It ended up being a first edition. He had been looking for it for years.

I found a vomit ashtray that fits my old MGM Grand Hotel ashtray as well. Like I said, good store trip.

Additionally, A.P. was just gifted an art piece by another friend of ours, Mark Obscura, that was supposed to help him acquire rare books, A.P.'s obsession. I would say this worked. Ha! The weird/wyrd continues to make itself known in personal, strange synchronistic ways that aren't Earth shattering but powerfully validating for the souls involved. I love it!!!

On to A.P's thoughts about the bricks.

Remember, from part one of my series on these bricks:

"Hidden Brick Co., at 2610 Kaufmann Ave, Vancouver, Wash., uses a loamy alluvial silt that overlies the gravelly phase of the lacustrine deposits. Only the upper few feet of the surface materials is used for raw material at this plant. it is probably alluvial silt deposited during the downcutting of the lacustrine deposits, with perhaps some admixed colluvium" (p 106 - taken from "Geology of Portland, Oregon and Adjacent Areas: US Geological Survey Bulletin 1119," Trimble, D.E, 1963)."

What does this mean as far as my theory for the bricks themselves contributing to the hauntings in these buildings?

In discussing the pre-game plan before I headed out Saturday, he was brought up to speed on my theory that the Hidden bricks may be contributing to these hauntings. He had a lot to say about it:

"You realize that silt is at least partially composed of ground up and fossilized organic matter - bones and petrified bits of flora and fauna from a bygone age. In the case of alluvial silt, flora and fauna from the Pliocene epoch. This would be the time of early hominids such as Australopithicus. So Hidden bricks are composed at least partially of fossilized remains of the earliest human ancestors that we know of."

Or, you know, literal EARLY HOMINID GHOST BRICKS. (Sasquatch Ghost Bricks?!) About ourancestors: Australopithecus. Thanks for weighing in, A.P.!.!

Our final stop Saturday was 26th and Kaufmann, the site of the second Hidden Brick Factory, closed in 1992. The brickyard is fenced in, and we did not walk inside any of the fenced off areas. This should go without saying, but PLEASE DO NOT TRESPASS HERE OR ANYWHERE ELSE in the name of paranormal investigation!!

I took a brief video of the area, on Kaufmann. You can see that here, we found some old paths where loading and unloading obviously happened in the area.

When I am taking the above video I note stacks of Hidden Bricks inside the yard, mention longingly how much I would like to get my hands on one but I'm not going to break and enter and you know, steal.

This becomes important about a half hour later.

Oh, I see you, stacks of Hidden Bricks. 

I kept going back to this building. I'm not sure what happened in here but it feels eerie.

All abandoned places have a strange vibe to them, but this one feels even creepier. I meant to take soil samples from the public areas just outside the fence line and ... I forgot. This is the second location today I set out for that I ended up not doing what I planned to do and leaving early after feeling weird.

Basically my entire purpose for tracking down where they dug out the clay was forgotten and abandoned. Okay then.

I climbed on an area across the street from the Brickyard to be able to see further back in the yard and had a minor slip (only pride injured haha) on the wet wood coming down so Dave made me wrap it up there. We were within 10 blocks of a park called Hidden Park, and so before he grounded me totally for the day we made one last stop.

A few blocks away from the park I noticed lots of Hidden Bricks on many houses in the general area approaching the park. I hadn't looked into the homes around here, but the Hidden stamp was literally everywhere.

I asked him to park the car a few blocks from the park as there were lots of cool houses with Hidden Bricks and I wanted to walk by a few on the way. Spotting them is my new favorite game.

Somewhere in the 30s and Kaufmann we took a random alley towards Hidden Park. On the ground, upside down next to some other random rocks, a board and few cans that obviously had been pulled out of the recycle bin next to the dumpster in the alley was 3/4 of a red brick.

Because I am out specifically looking for red bricks I turn it over and it says "IDDEN" on the underside.

I say "Oh shut the f*ck up!" to Dave, who is about half a block further up Kaufmann than I am and he turns around. I'm already muttering, "Where's the rest?" as he helps me move the recycle and garbage bin out of the way, where I then find the part of the brick stamped "H".

There were at least a dozen homes in a few blocks with significant amount of Hidden Bricks used in the construction of the homes itself, landscaping around the homes, etc. Collectible stamped bricks that are in good condition sell for around $10 and up in antique stores, so I am not sure if someone took this from a nearby home, dropped it and then abandoned it in the alley as it could no longer be sold or how it ended up next to dumpster. The moss shows it was outside for a while before it ended up smashed on Kaufmann.

Technically we are blocks from the stacks I saw and joked about stealing from inside the brickyard also. It could have come from anywhere. I guess I have good brick karma.

But... I, a witch who headed out on this journey wondering why I didn't want to grind up my own purchased Hidden Brick into dust for spiritual purposes know what to do with a very old, broken brick.

So I took him home, scrubbed him up, and am allowing him to spend time with his reunited brick brother before I turn him into a respected spiritual tool. I also feel irrationally attached to this brick, but will use as it intended as it appears to be already breaking down. Thanks again, Hidden Family.

This brick is one of the original hand molded ones, again you can tell by the back. It is the same process as my 1871 brick, meaning this brick is also prior to 1905 when the new wire method was employed.

I learned from spending time in the Hidden Bricks room at the Clark County Historical Museum what the wire cut bricks that began in 1905 look like on the back:

Anyway, Hidden Park is no big deal, it's just a small little green space (1.2 acres) in an alley near 38th and Kaufmann with some equipment for kids to play on. However, if we hadn't gone looking for it, I would have not found an abandoned broken Hidden Brick next to a dumpster in a surrounding alley.

I figured I used all my good brick mojo for the day and called it a day. I'm nowhere near done with these bricks, however. I mean, they are all over the place.

Planned deep dives coming on:

• Providence Academy - a local ghost story claims the bricks there are "cursed" due to a disagreement about cost of the building between the Hiddens and Mother Joseph!
• Brickhouse Bar & Grill - one of the things I learned about the Hiddens is that they were very anti alcohol. Wonder if the fact that their old brick factory and offices is used for a Bar and Grill contributes to the activity there. I've been inside several times watching bands but not paying attention to the bricks. The strangest thing about that place is while it is a new, modern bar and grill, the decor and vibe in there could literally be from 1980 to Present. It sort of has a "beyond time" retro feel inside and I'm wondering if the bricks contribute.
• "Terrible Tilly" - The Tillamook Lighthouse, constructed from Hidden bricks. I've been interested in this site for a while as I had a strange experience involving photographing the lighthouse with my fathers antique camera. The running joke is Terrible Tilly killed my camera. Haven't thought about that in years.