The original St. Catherine church was built in Kealia on a site next to the existing St. Catherine Cemetery. At the time of the building of the church the land was under lease to Col. Z. S. Spalding and the Makee Sugar Company. In testimony before the U.S. Congress for the Annexation of Hawaii, Col. Spalding testified that he provided land and material to the laborers of Portuguese ancestry on his plantation for the construction of a church. Exterior materials for the church were similar to the siding used for the construction of Valley House, the home of Col. Spalding.
The location of the church was across the road from the public school. The first Kapaa school, established in June 1883, was located on the point of land Kapaa side of the church, below the railroad tracks. The church and school locations were selected because sugar could not grow well on these lands. A lease agreement was signed between the Roman Catholic Church and the Hawaiian government in 1888, covering 2.03 acres of land.
In the following decades, numerous land purchases were made to expand the church site at Kealia. All of the lands were purchased from the government for church, school, or cemetery purposes.
The orginal church was bullt in 1887 by Father Emmeran Schulte. The Gothic design wooden structure measured 25 feet by 50 teet. Three abutments on each side supported the high vaulted interior. The entrance was through arched double doors with a white cross. The roof was corrugated iron. Exterior walls were horizontal lap siding. Round windows were added to the front and back of the church.
