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St Joseph's Church in 1968, two years before it burned down
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Captain Cass was very fond of the combination of black and white. He always drove show white horses and a shining black surrey or other horse drawn equipage. He himself dressed in black and white. He had white Spitz dogs, highly pedigreed, and they were allowed to romp on his immaculate and manicured lawns much to the enjoyment of the townspeople.
Captain Cass did much for Cayucos in many ways. As an example of his altruistic generosity to the little seacoast town - may we cite St. Joseph's Catholic Church? This was made possible through his generosity. Captain Cass was not a Catholic but felt the need of the church for the many people of that faith in the little village of Cayucos, and so gave generously to the building. Construction began about 1895 and the church was completed in 1900. It was built with volunteer labor under the supervision of Manuel Dughi, a member of a pioneer family.
The church was dedicated on July 6th, 1900 and the first mass was celebrated on Sunday, July 15, 1900 by Fr. Valentin Aguilera from Mission San Luis Obispo. He went by horse and buggy from San Luis Obispo as he later did to conduct weddings and funerals.
When the church was completed, there was but one main altar. The two smaller ones were added later.
An early resident of Cayucos tells us that the church and rectory were enclosed by the same type of picket fence and border of cypress trees as were used at the Cass home. The lumber for the church was also brought in by boat, as it was for the captain's elegant mansion.
It is interesting to note that many of the parishioners of the little church facing the sea were baptized, confirmed, married, and buried from the same quaint little church. St. Joseph's was abandoned as a place of worship in 1965. Although many of the historically-minded people of Cayucos tried to save it as an early landmark, it was sold and was to be done away with in the not-too-distant future, alas! You know what finally happened - the church burned to the ground on Wednesday, September 30th, 1970.
Captain James Cass and his wife are buried in the old section of the Odd Fellows Cemetery in San Luis Obispo. She died in 1910 at the age of 91 and he died in 1917 at 92. Have you seen his house? Do you know the one I'm talking about? It is now over a century old.
