(St.) Urban Renewal — Restoration Nearly Complete at Historic Winlock Church

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    WINLOCK — After six years, restoration work on the old pioneer church at St. Urban, formerly known as The Assumption Catholic Church, is just about finished.

    First dedicated on Aug. 15, 1891, this historic site located on the corner of North Military and Sargent roads between Winlock and Napavine was once the thriving farm community of St. Urban.

    “St. Urban used to be a pretty happening place,” said Tracie Stedham, who has lived near the church most of her life.

Stedham is a member of the Friends of St. Urban who have worked since February 2004 to save the old church from certain destruction.

    When Joe Bremgartner, who lives in Olympia now but also grew up just down the road from St. Urban, heard that the church was slated for demolition, he and some of the other folks from the old neighborhood got to work saving this landmark.

    “There’s a lot of important history here,” said Bremgartner, whose grandparents on both sides of his family were some of the original settlers of the St. Urban community. “There’s a cemetery behind the church, too. All the original pioneers are buried back there.”

    The Friends of St. Urban formed a nonprofit organization and with the help of the Seattle archdiocese and many volunteers have replaced the foundation, restored the original plasterwork inside, refinished the pews and repainted both inside and out.

    On Saturday, the work crew started in on the final project for the church — replacing the old windows with pine-framed panes donated to the project.

    The board of directors hopes to complete work before this summer so they can celebrate with a rededication ceremony on Aug. 15, almost 120 years after the building was first dedicated.

    Then the group will turn the church over the county parks department to manage as a historic site, Bremgartner said.



    Most of the people who have dedicated the last few years to restoring St. Urban have a historical link to the building.

    Helping out on Saturday were Cheryl and Dave Gardin, of Toledo, who were married at St. Urban in 2000. Cheryl’s grandfather was one of the first people ever baptized in the building, and her own daughter was baptized there.

    Until the late 1970s the church continued to be used for monthly services and special occasions, Gardin recalled.

    Shelton resident Margaret Hofmann-Chambers grew up half a mile down the road. Her grandmother was German Swiss and that was why they settled down in St. Urban, a primarily German-speaking Swiss community.

    “In those days, just about everyone here was subsistence farming,” Hofmann-Chambers said. “Now there aren’t many farmers left at all.”

    The St. Urban historic site will serve as a reminder to community members and visitors of both this pioneer history and the more recent memories of those who grew up loving this little corner of south Lewis County.

    “All of us kids rode our bikes up and down these roads,” Hofmann-Chambers said. “We played in the creek, we played in the woods and it didn’t matter whose woods they were. We had freedom. And you don’t have that now.”

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    Dian McClurg is a freelance writer living in Centralia. She can be reached at dlmcclurg@comcast.net.