Our Lady of Tears Catholic Church

Just past the schoolhouse, high on the hill is Our Lady of Tears Catholic Church. The history of the church in Silver City goes back to the days of the Idaho Territory. In 1896 the Episcopal Guild raised funds to begin construction and it was finished and dedicated two years later on December 18, 1868. The original windows came from Chicago. 

A Catholic Church was built across the street from the Idaho Hotel on Jordan Street, but fell into disrepair and collapsed in the early 1900s. 

The current church building was donated in 1928 to the Catholic Diocese by the Episcopalians. The Episcopal Diocese had been approached by some Nampa businessmen who wished to buy the building and convert it into a roadhouse. To spare the church this fate, Episcopal Bishop Barnwell offered it to Bishop Edward Kelly of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise for $1. The church was thus rededicated as Our Lady of Tears Catholic Church. Services are still held at the church once or twice during each summer and the sound of the church bells ringing on those Sundays is a reminder of the town's more active days.