Before it arrived at its current spot on Oak Grove Avenue, the Church of the Nativity made a zigzag--on log rollers--across several blocks of what is now Menlo Park.
Originally called "St. Bridget's," the church was first built in 1872 on a lot at the northeast corner of Ringwood Avenue and Middlefield Road. But when the land, donated by Robert E. Doyle, became entangled in legal difficulties, the lot was sold and the parish purchased the current site on Oak Grove Avenue.
The church, however, took a roundabout route to get there.
In 1877, the building was put on log rollers and moved by a team of horses to a site across the railroad tracks on Santa Cruz Avenue.
After several months, the church was finally moved to its current site, prompting local wags to call it the "Roaming Catholic Church."
Since then, the church has survived two major earthquakes with little damage. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and is the oldest continuously operating church building in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
The building is undergoing a $1.1 million structural improvement project, but it remains open to its 1,400 parishioners and a variety of community groups.
Parishioner Nancy Madigan, 61, remembers the church as a schoolgirl's refuge, in a time when spending $1.1 million on anything--much less a church building--was unheard of.
She remembers a long, mischievous walk to church she used to take with her friends from St. Joseph's School across town.
"It was a regular ritual to take those long, lovely walks to the first Friday Mass," she said. "We'd do anything to get out of class. We were very happy to be religious on those days," she said, giggling.
Madigan has been attending the Church of the Nativity since she was born. She was confirmed in the church, married two husbands there, and survived them both. The two men are buried in Nativity's cemetery.
Nancy's father, Edward Derry, was baptized in the church and was one of its first altar boys. Derry and his wife were married by one of the first pastors in the church. All of their children--including Nancy--took first communion in the church.
Madigan said she and her family maintained a close relationship with their priest, the Rev. Thomas McKeon, who led Nativity from 1934 to 1963.
McKeon called a doctor once for her father when he was sick. Madigan said the call saved her father's life.
"The church was such a huge part of our lives," she said. "It's an integral part of the history and spiritual life in Menlo."
Madigan has never moved away from the area and has been a faithful member of Nativity all her life.
"It's the most devout church to go into, even today," she said. "There's a touch of the old devotional feeling."
--Jessica McCuan
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