St. Teresa of Avila Church, Bodega

Saint Teresa of Avila is a Roman Catholic church.  The white wooden church with a steeple sits on a hilltop above the small rural town of Bodega.   Jasper O’Farrell, for whom O’Farrell Street in San Francisco is named, donated the redwood lumber and a lot from his 1843 Mexican Land Grant, Rancho Estero Americano, to construct the church.  Legend has the church built by New England shipbuilding carpenters in 1860.  Upon completion the lot and church were deeded as a gift from John O'Farrell (Jasper’s brother) to Archbishop Alemany of San Francisco.  The Archbishop dedicated the church in Bodega on June 2, 1862 under the name of Saint Teresa de Avila, patron saint of Jasper O’Farrell’s sister.  A young French-Italian priest, Father Louis Rossi, was appointed pastor.

The O’Farrell graves can be found in the Calvary Cemetery, a short distance west up the road from the church.  The oldest date found of a burial is 1860.

Subsequent to the building of the church, the population of the Bodega area grew rapidly.  Italian immigrants began coming into the region in the 1880s and continued well into the early 1900s. They came primarily from Lombardy in northern Italy and Ticino, the Italian region of Switzerland, to pursue dairy farming.  However, the 1870 census showed the largest groups of foreign born residents in the county were Irish, most of whom were Catholic.  It became evident the Catholic community was growing and the little church needed to be enlarged.

In 1872 it was decided that it was time to expand the building.  Applying some very innovative thinking, the expansion was accomplished.  The structure was cut in half, separated and a new section was inserted.   The junction points in the ceiling and floor are still visible.  After the expansion, additional stained glass windows were installed.  Over the years other windows in disrepair have been replaced with memorial windows donated in honor of members’ loved ones.

At the same time the church was expanded a choir loft and church steeple were built.  In 1967, the choir loft was judged unsafe and was dismantled.  1992 the area was modified to provide a sound chamber for the new organ and installation of a furnace.               

In 1886 a new 850 lb. cast iron bell was installed in the church tower.  It was soon discovered the bell was too heavy for the tower, so it was taken down.  The bell was relocated to a new bell tower at the rear of the church property, which eventually deteriorated.

In the 1940’s & 50s the church was in severe disrepair. There was a movement afoot to dismantle the old church.  In 1954 the church members agreed to rescue the church.  The project included a new foundation and external concrete buttresses to strengthen the aging structure.  June 12, 1955, marked the end of a year-long restoration.