The Catholics first formed a mission in Benicia in 1852. In 1854, Reverend Francis S. Vilarrasa, of Monterey, established the Dominican parish of St. Dominic’s and celebrated the first mass. He brought with him the convent of Santa Catalina headed by Sister Mary Goemaere. She was accompanied by Sister Mary Dominica, nee Maria de la Concepción Arguello, daughter of Don Jose Arguello, Comandante of the Presidio in San Francisco, and the first native-born Californian to become a nun. The church soon changed its Spanish sermons to English and Santa Catalina was anglicized to St. Catherine’s. The Dominican Convent included a children’s school and advanced studies for older girls. The original wooden church, built in March 1854, was replaced in 1890. Today’s church was built on a sandstone foundation from Patrick Mullaney’s Benicia quarry. The church is located at 475 East I Street. St. Dominic’s, the Mother Church of Solano County’s Catholics, went through another restoration in 1972. The twin copper cupolas were restored in 2012. This mural depicts the beautiful façade of the church with three individuals important to the early church. The figure on the left, might be Sister Mary Goemaere, the first head of St Catherine’s or it might be Sister Mary Dominica, who helped establish and run the Order. The identity of the two male figures is also debatable. One might be Father Vilarrasa, who celebrated the first mass at St. Dominic’s in 1854. The other might be Bishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, the first Bishop of Monterey and Archbishop of San Francisco.