Nevada's oldest active Catholic church survived a great fire and destructive monks

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St. Mary in the Mountains is the oldest active Catholic church in Nevada. It survived the Great Fire of 1875 and the “Mad Monks” who removed most of the original artwork and architecture.

Built in 1868, destroyed in the Great Fire of 1875, and rebuilt in 1876. The church is still operating and has a museum and a gift store.

In the 1950s, a group of Cistercian monks from Wisconsin took over the church in 1957 and later became known as the Mad Monks. They started removing art, stained glass windows, and wooden-crafted features of the church in the 1870s.

A new priest was assigned to the church and put a stop to the destruction of the art. He even re-acquired some of the art and furniture that townspeople had saved, and started to restore the church to its former glory.