Mountain View
Restlawn
Brady Chapel
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Mountain View & Restlawn Cemeteries 1520 S. 5th Ave. Pocatello, ID 83205 208-234-6195

THE MOUNTAIN VIEW BRADY CHAPEL

James H. Brady was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania on June 12, 1862. He died on January 13, 1918 in Washington D.C. while serving as a United States Senator from Idaho.

James Brady was educated in Kansas at the State Normal College. He taught school for three years, studied law, edited a semi - weekly newspaper for two years and then became interested in the real estate business. In time he was operating a successful business in St. Louis, Chicago, and Houston.

The irrigation and power possibilities of Idaho attracted him to this state in 1895. He then became identified with the development of the Snake River Valley, the Idaho, Marysville and Fort Hall canals being among the projects in which he was active. He was a leader in the electrical development of southeastern Idaho. The Idaho Consolidated Power Co., was another of his sucessful enterprises. He took part in several Pocatello real estate ventures, including ownership of the Dietrich building and the Bannock Hotel.

James H. Brady was a dominant figure in the Republican party in Idaho for several years, serving as Idaho's Governor from 1908 to 1911 and U. S. Senator from 1913 until his death in 1918.

After Senator Brady passed away, his widow, Irene Brady, and his heirs erected this beautiful, gothic, meditation chapel as a memorial. Lots adjacent to the chapel were given by the city to the family as a permanent public park. The chapel was given to the city by Irene Brady and his sons, S.E. Brady and J. Robb Brady.

The building is French Gothic Revival style and was designed by a Pocatello architect, Frank Paradise. The contractor was Alex Mathers. The exterior is constructed of hand carved Indiana limestone with turned pinacles. The interior woodwork and hand made doors are of oak. All bronze trim and woodwork conform to the Gothic style of the chapel. Herman Pierson designed the stained glass window. The construction of the chapel took three years.

The chapel was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1922. the same day the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington D.C., Walter H. Cleare presented the chapel to the city and the address of acceptance was made by J. H. Peterson.

In 1959, after Irene M. Brady's death, the Pocatello city council reached an agreement with the remaining heirs for the ashes of the Senator and Mrs. Brady to be removed and buried behind the chapel.

Thirty-nine years after construction this beautiful chapel, which had always been open to the public, was locked and used for storage. In 1972 the Brady chapel, although in disrepair, was put on the state historical register. In 1988 Mayor Finlayson and the city council, in response to a request by the Cemetery Committee, agreed that the chapel, because of its beauty and history, should be restored and maintained by the city. The Cemetery Committee is continuing in the visible restoration efforts and striving to return the chapel to its original magnificence.