Tomales Catholic Cemetery

Church of the Assumption of Mary, a Roman Catholic church, is located at 26825 Shoreline Highway (Hwy 1) in Tomales, California. It is just south of Dillon Beach Road. The Catholic Cemetery is not located at the Church, but rather about 1 mile west of town near the corner of Dillon Beach Road and Middle Road.

“In 1860 the Church of the Assumption was built in Tomales on land donated by John and Kate Miller Keys. Archbishop Joseph Alemany, first Archbishop of San Francisco, dedicated the church that same year with first pastor, Father Louis Rossi.

“Contractors were Peter Morrissey and Andrew Fisher but records do not disclose the name of the architect. Style of architecture for the redwood frame building is Carpenter’s Gothic.

“In 1897, a stone church designed by architect Frank Shea was built during the pastorate of Father John Rogers but it was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. Parishioners then returned to the redwood frame building they continue to pray in today. The white marble baptismal font, a marble statue of Mary holding the Christ Child and a stained glass window of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple were retrieved from the newer church. Other windows installed during the 1920s show the influence of Tiffany Glass.”

Source: Catholic San Francisco, The Weekly Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, March 26, 1999.