Old St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, PA

Old St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, PA

Old St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, PA

Old St. Mary’s is the second oldest Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Located at 248 S. Fourth Street, it was built in 1763 as a Sunday Church to be used by the parishioners of Old St. Joseph Church. In 1788, the Board of Trustees was incorporated to manage the temporal affairs of the church. After Philadelphia was made a diocese in 1808, Bishop Michael Egan selected Old St. Mary Church as the first Cathedral. Problems would arise between the trustees and the bishops over the appointment of priests. This would eventually lead to the Hogan schism and appeals to the Pope for intervention. After over 20 years of conflict, the third Bishop of Philadelphia, Francis Kenrick temporarily closed in the church 1831 and would later move the Cathedral to St. John the Evangelist in 1838.

The early congregation of 222 families was mostly Irish but with 30 German and 15 French. Some of the more distinguished early members were George Meade, great-grandfather to Civil War General George Gordon Meade, the victor at Gettysburg; Revolutionary War naval hero Commodore John Barry; Thomas Fitzsimmons, a signer of the Constitution; and Matthew Carey, a leading publisher in the Federalist era.

Both George Washington and John Adams attended Vespers there in October of 1774 and it was the site of the first public religious commemoration of the Declaration of Independence.