In 1873 the first church was built at Greenstone, the priest chiefly responsible for the building of this church is said to have been Fr Ecuyer SM who was stationed at Greymouth. Records have it that this church had only a short life as flooding and the build-up of sluice tailings forced the building of a new church up on the right hand side of the Greenstone Creek.
In Valley of Little Towns Rona Adshead and Jillian Johnson say ” In February of 1873 Bishop Moran, the newly appointed bishop of Dunedin, undertook the Herculean task of visiting these West Coast parishes. After opening the Greenstone Church…..”
