Anaconda’s Catholic community developed soon after workers flocked to Anaconda after 1883 to work in the smelter. The Catholic Diocese and local parishioners established St. Paul’s Catholic Church in 1887, and in 1888 contractors completed an imposing brick church with a soaring central steeple on this corner. Soon after, Father De Siere moved into a small brick rectory next door. The rectory sufficed for more than a decade. In 1902, the energetic Rev. Father A. R. Coopman hired architect Martin D. Kern to design a spacious Colonial Revival style rectory addition to be built onto the front of the existing rectory. Completed in 1903, the home’s stylistic hallmarks include the central projecting gable end with oval window, Doric and Corinthian porch columns, and windows with flat arches and central keystones. Father Coopman spent twenty-five years building the Catholic community in Anaconda. When he died in 1927, St. Paul’s held three funeral masses to honor his legacy. Although St. Paul's Church was demolished in 1982, the rectory remains a tangible reminder of St. Paul’s Church and Father Coopman’s contributions.
