Old Castantia Church - Monochrome - Lassen County California

by Mike Lee

Title

Old Castantia Church - Monochrome - Lassen County California

Artist

Mike Lee

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

The abandoned Castantia Church in Doyle, California, stands as a quiet reminder of the past, sitting just off the scenic U.S. 395 highway. With its weathered wooden exterior, Gothic-style windows, and charming bell tower, this historic structure exudes a timeless beauty.

I originally captured this scene with vibrant fall colors flanking the church, and that version is also available. However, I couldn’t resist creating a monochrome rendition—something about an aged building like this lends itself perfectly to black-and-white photography. The interplay of light and shadow highlights the church’s rustic textures, while the surrounding trees glow in infrared tones, enhancing the sense of nostalgia and history.

This rustic chapel, now known as the Constantia Church, was first raised in 1908 as St. Mary’s Chapel Constantia to serve the small ranching community founded by Henry Butters in Long Valley. Services were held only when a traveling priest was available, and by the early 1920s the congregation had faded away. Decades later, in 1994, the building was carefully moved to Doyle, where it rests near the Long Valley Cemetery. Recognized as a Lassen County historic landmark, the church withstood the devastating Beckwourth Complex Fire of 2021 and remains a striking relic of the pioneer era along Highway 395—its weathered boards and bell tower still echoing the spirit of those early settlements.

𝘐𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘴, 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴.

Uploaded

October 28th, 2020

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags