Tacoma was a town of 36,000 people when Holy Rosary Parish was founded. At this time, the only parish in the city was Saint Leo the Great, with Rev. P. F. Hylebos as pastor. The devout German Catholics of Tacoma wished to hear an occasional sermon in their mother tongue. They decided to establish a second parish in Tacoma with the understanding that the German language would be used at least part of the time.
Autumn 1890: A group of German-speaking Catholics banded together to discuss the formation of the new parish. When Mr. Stephen Tschida speaks to this group, it is the beginning of the establishment of the Order of Saint Benedict in Washington State. He had come to Tacoma from Minnesota, and he recommended the work being done by the Benedictines at Saint John’s Abbey there. He concludes by making the suggestion that the group ask the Bishop of Nesqually to invite one of these Benedictine Priests to be their Pastor.
By March of 1891, land had been purchased and the first wooden church was under construction by volunteer labor, headed by the Founders’ Committee.
June, 1891: Bishop Ægidius Junger of Nesqually had offered the new parish to the Abbot of Saint John’s Abbey, Minnesota. Abbot Bernard Locnikar O.S.B. personally came out to visit.
Abbot Locnikar inspects the new Church and delivers an enthusiastic sermon, complimenting the people on their Catholic spirit. The Abbot advises the parishioners that their Pastor, a German-speaking Benedictine, would be with them within thirty days.
Previous to the Abbot’s visit, the parishioners were undecided about whether to call the new church, Saint Joseph’s or Saint Mary’s. The Abbot, being devoted to the Blessed Virgin and having been so impressed with the abundance and variety of wild roses blooming in the area, names the church Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.