St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Chester (1891)

The first Catholic mass in Chester was held in 1851 and a church was built on Middlesex Ave in 1855. At that time, the Parish served the towns of Chester, Deep River, Essex, Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Old Lyme, Lyme, and Haddam. The Parish received a full-time pastor in 1876 and the current church replaced the original one on the same site in 1891. To make way for the new church, the first church building was sold and moved to the corner of Main Street and Middlesex Avenue. The new St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church was dedicated on February 16, 1892. The church was enlarged in 1929, at which time the peak of the gable roof was lowered and two smaller towers on the right of the front facade were removed.