St. Joseph’s School (1907)

The building at 21 Valley Street in Willimantic was built in 1907 as a school by St. Joseph Catholic Parish. As described in A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut, Vol. I (1920)

The school was established by the late [Rev.] Florimond DeBruycker, and he was the first principal, taking a constant and devoted interest in the work, from the beginning in 1878 until his death in 1902.

The first school sessions were held in April, 1878, with six Sisters of Charity of Tilburg, Holland, in charge. Sessions were held in the basement of the church for the boys and in the convent (now the Nurses’ Home) for the girls. The number of children increased so rapidly that another building was erected two years later on Valley Street, which remained in use until torn down in 1907 to make room for a more pretentious structure.

Today, St. Mary-St. Joseph School is located next door, at 35 Valley Street. The former St. Joseph School building has most recently been used as an adult education center.

Church of St. Colman (1962)

The original St. Colman’s Catholic Church in Middlefield stood at the corner of Main and Stow Streets. The cornerstone was laid in 1886 and the church opened its doors on August 7, 1887. Construction was completed in 1889 and fourteen stained glass windows were installed the following year. It was a mission church under St. John Parish in Middletown until 1903, when it became a mission of the newly formed St. Francis Parish in Middletown. The last service in the old church was held on September 16, 1962, the same day that the new Church of St. Colman, located at 170 Hubbard Street, was dedicated. The church was granted full parish status in 1964.

St. Thomas the Apostle Church (1951)

St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, established in November 1920, was the second Catholic parish in West Hartford. Early Masses were held in a portable wooden edifice, located at the southwest corner of Quaker Lane and Boulevard. A basement chapel at 872 Farmington Avenue was dedicated on November 7, 1926. Construction began in 1937 on St. Thomas the Apostle School, located next to the chapel on Dover Road. St. Thomas the Apostle Church was completed with the dedication of the upper church on September 16, 1951.

St. Patrick’s Church, Mystic (1909)

The cornerstone of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 35 East Main Street in Mystic, was laid on August 16, 1908 and the building was dedicated the following year. The parish had previously used a building on Church Street, purchased from the local Methodist church in 1870. The church on East Main has been altered in the years since it was first erected. The original Gothic entryway and tower have been replaced with less architecturally elaborate versions. A one-story parish hall was also added to the building. (more…)

St. Mark the Evangelist Church (1945)

St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, 467 South Quaker Lane in West Hartford, was dedicated on September 30, 1945. It replaced the original St. Mark Church on the site, which was destroyed by a fire of suspicious origin on June 24, 1944. Due to the scarciry of building materials during World War Two, that building had been a portable church, a narrow structure with a heating grate running through its center. St. Mark’s Parish Center was dedicated in 1971. As part of the Archdiocese of Hartford’s reorganization of parishes earlier this year, St. Mark’s merged with two other West Hartford parishes, St. Brigid and St. Helena, to form the new Saint Gianna Parish.

St. Rose Church, East Hartford (1924)

St. Rose Catholic Parish, located in the Burnside section of East Hartford, was established in 1920. The parish‘s first church was a Quonset hut on Church Street, situated between the current church (33 Church Street) and Burnside Avenue. A new church was dedicated on June 22, 1924. [see also Mike Sheridan, “St. Rose’s Church Parishioners Pitch In To Renovate Building,” Hartford Courant, July 28, 1974]. (more…)

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Meriden (1936)

In the 1870s, Italian immigrants began settling in the northwest corner of Meriden. For many years they attended existing Catholic churches in the city, but soon wanted to found their own parish. The Diocese of Hartford established Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in 1894. The first parish church was a wooden building on Goodwill Avenue. The current church, located at 109 Goodwill Avenue, was dedicated on February 16, 1936. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School was established in 1944 after the parish purchased the Nathan Hale Public School from the city of Meriden. In recent years, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Laurent Parishes in Meriden shared a priest. Earlier this year, as part of a reorganization throughout the Archdiocese of Hartford, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Laurent and three other parishes merged to form the new Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish, based at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.