Our Parish History
The original Church of St. Mary Immaculate goes back to 1857; however, its humble beginnings go back even further than that. In these earlier years before 1857, Catholics in these northern townships were looked after by missionary priests.
The original Church was located on Mill Street from 1857 until 1894, when the second Church was built and opened at the corner of Yonge and what is now Dunlop Street. The priest who built this church was Father Patrick McMahon.
In the 1950s, the Parish of St. Mary Immaculate experienced a large boom in the number of Parishioners. It was becoming evident that the church would be too small to accommodate the many new Parishioners moving into the area. So Father McGinn, the Pastor at the time, began to plan for a new church. Father McGinn would not live to see the new church, as he went to his heavenly reward on July 28, 1964.
In September 1964, Father Clement Schwalm was appointed Pastor of St. Mary Immaculate Church, and made the building of the new Church a priority, as this was important to Father McGinn.
The new church was constructed over a two-year period between 1966-1968. It was built to accommodate the growing congregation – at the time, there were between 300 to 400 families at the Parish. Today, we serve over 7,000 families.
Chapel Opened
Chapel established in Windham (Now Oak Ridges) to serve a short lived French community
St. Paul's Parish in York
St. Paul’s Parish in York was established. Missionary priests brought the sacraments to settlers’ homes in the Richmond Hill area.
Ordination of Father McNulty in New York.
Richmond Hill becomes part of the Newmarket mission.
Newmarket Parish
The Newmarket parish was established to serve the area that included Richmond Hill