Our history
One of the oldest parishes in the Diocese of Yakima, built by Roslyn’s immigrant miners and lovingly restored for the next generation.
Roslyn’s first Catholics
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1886
Roslyn is founded as a coal-mining company town. Catholic families are among its earliest settlers.
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1887
The parish of Immaculate Conception is established, among the oldest in what would become the Diocese of Yakima.
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October 1888
The church is completed, its steeple rising above a town of miners drawn from across Europe.
A parish and a landmark
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Early 1900s
The parish serves a town of more than twenty nationalities. Baptismal and burial records read like a map of Europe.
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1978
The Roslyn Historic District is placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Immaculate Conception Church and Rectory are contributing buildings.
Damage and restoration
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2001
The Nisqually earthquake badly damages the church. Careful repairs follow, and the parish keeps gathering.
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2025
Under Fr. Francisco Higuera, the parish completes a major historic restoration, renewing plaster, decorative painting, original artwork, woodwork, and lighting, and reopens the church in time for Christmas.
Held in trust
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2026
Immaculate Conception shares a pastor and a single visual identity with St. John the Baptist in Cle Elum, preserving Roslyn’s Catholic and immigrant heritage for the next generation.
Pastors who have served
- Fr. L. Kusters1887
- Fr. J. Sweens1897–1900
- Fr. P.E. Kornke1900–06, 1908–16
- Fr. Augustine Osgniach, O.S.B.1916–1919
- Fr. Anthony Hack1921–1926
- Fr. Theodore Wolters1926–1927
- Fr. Dominick Hack1927–1929
- Fr. Demetrius Junaman1929–1931
- Fr. Clement Regimbal, O.S.B.1931–1933
- Fr. Francis O. Driscoll1934
- Fr. Paul Kucera, O.S.B.1934–37, 1948–52
- Fr. Fabian Sexton1937–1947
- Fr. Vincent Carey1947–1948
- Msgr. Joseph Sondergeld1955–61, 1962–67
- Fr. Harvey Owen1967–1975
- Fr. Joseph Graaff1979–1988
- Fr. John Marasciulo (later Msgr.)1988–1994
- Fr. William Byron1994–1999
- Fr. Ronald J. Patnode1999–2000
- Fr. Lawrence T. Reilly2001–2012
- Fr. Brooks F. Beaulaurier2012–2018
- Fr. Francisco Higuera2018–present
Our history is still being written by the families who fill these pews. If you have photographs, documents, or stories from the parish's past, the office would love to hear from you.