Mount Saint Mary's Convent and Academy

Mount Saint Mary's Convent and Academy, originally the Sacred Heart Convent and Holy Angels Orphanage and previously Mount St. Mary’s Convent and Orphan Asylum, and also known as Mount Saint Mary's Academy and Convent, is the only extant original orphanage in California and commemorates the Sisters of Mercy, in Grass Valley, Nevada County, California.The Gothic Revival Style Victorian building with Georgian Revival accents currently houses the Grass Valley Museum, at 410 South Church Street between Chapel and Dalton Streets, Grass Valley.HistoryKatherine Russell arrived in San Francisco with seven other Sisters of Mercy on 1854-12-08 from Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland; other Sisters followed. On 1863-08-20, spearheaded by vicar-general Father Thomas Dalton, five Sisters, including Mother Baptist, arrived in Grass Valley to help the California Gold Rush miners' orphans. Bishop Eugene O’Connell placed the cornerstone for the convent/orphanage building on Sunday, 1865-05-02. The Sisters moved in on 1866-03-20, and the first orphans were taken in on 1866-04-02.The orphanage closed in 1932 and the facility was de-sanctified in 1968. The following year, in 1969, the Grass Valley Historic Preservation Committee began repair and preservation of the building and the Sisters' rose garden. The Foley Library for Historical Research in nearby Nevada City, California retains historical documents for Mount St. Mary's.