Founded in 1759, Sainte Genevieve Parish claims to be the oldest parish west of the Mississippi River and the "Mother Church of the West." After the town of Ste. Genevieve moved from its original location near the river's edge, the first of three Catholic churches on this site was built as a vertical log structure. As the congregation grew, a larger stone church built in 1830 replaced it. The main body of the present church was completed in 1880, constructed around and over the second church, whose foundation remains visible in the basement, and as construction was finished, the second church was dismantled and carried out through the front door. Built at a cost of $24,000, the project was greatly aided by Mrs. Odile Pratte Valle, who donated $18,000, and the Valle Schools were later named in her honor. The building reached its present form in 1911, when the sanctuary and two transepts were added. The church is now 175 feet long, 55 feet high on the inside, and rises 190 feet above the street, with stained glass that differs between the original construction and later additions, which cost $21,000. In 1981, the interior was painted at a cost of about $140,000. Buried beneath the church are Francois Corset, longtime choirmaster of the parish, who died in 1789; Francois Valle, commandant of Ste. Genevieve from 1796 to 1804, and his wife Marie Carpentier Valle; Father Jacques Maxwell, pastor from 1797 to 1814; and Father Henri Pratte, a native of Ste. Genevieve and the first Catholic priest born west of the Mississippi, pastor from 1816 to 1822. Displayed in the church is a painting of Sainte Genevieve receiving a cross and medal from the bishops of Troyes and Auxerre, France, given to the parish by Louis Phillipe, later King of France, and painted in 1772. The stone bowl in the baptismal font is said to have been in constant use since the baptism of the first child there. The stone building next to the church, built in 1835, was first intended as a college, but when the pastor could not persuade the Christian Brothers to staff it, it became his rectory until 1847, when it was first used as a school building.