St Peter Parish School

Rev. Peter Beutgen was named pastor and he offered the first Mass in mid-January 1911, in a hall located above Duke's Market on Main (now 92nd Ave) in Lents. Plans for the building of a parish church were soon underway - aided by a contribution from the church Extension society. At this time, the Lents district was not yet annexed to the City of Po... rtland. The first St Peter Church was dedicated by Archbishop Christie who celebrated High Mass on Dec. 15, 1911. It was a 3-storey building with the main entrance facing what is now SE 91st Avenue just north of SE Ellis street. The lower level was to serve as a school, with classrooms and a music room. The second floor space was a parish hall and the third floor contained the chapel. Since no teaching order of nuns was available, the planned parish school never came into being at this location. According to the 1913 Portland City Directory, the original St Peter Church was located at "es Mohr Ave 2n Gilbert Ave - Lents". This address was later known as Gilbert & Main. Over the years, City street names were changed and, in 1932/33, there was major revision of both the name and numbering systems, and a cross-reference book was published. All earlier addresses can be researched and identified with today's nomenclature. Using this information, it has been determined that the first St Peter parish church was located on the east side of present-day SE 91st Ave. (formerly Mohr) about 2 lots north of SE Ellis Street (formerly Gilbert Road)..Read More