The Catholics on the east side of the Connecticut River had to travel to St. Patrick’s Church in Hartford to attend Mass until 1873, when Bishop Francis P. McFarland established St. Mary’s Parish.
Father Patrick Goodwin was appointed the first pastor of St. Mary’s Parish which then included the towns of East Hartford, South Windsor, Glastonbury, Wethersfield, and Rocky Hill. The people of St. Mary’s, as well as those of her daughter parishes which include St. Rose and St. Isaac Jogues, are heirs and beneficiaries of the hard work of the early priests, religious, and laity who built up and maintained a vibrant community of faith.
The first wooden church, on the corner of Main Street and Woodbridge Avenue, was dedicated in 1877. The number of parishioners continued to grow as immigrants from Italy and Ireland and French Canadians came to East Hartford seeking employment and a better life. By 1923 the congregation numbered 2,700. Not intimidated by the national Depression, the parish built a school under Father Thomas Drennan, who had been named pastor in 1928. Ten Sisters of Mercy staffed the 14 room St. Mary’s School which consisted of 303 pupils.
Father John W. Dial, appointed pastor in 1959, transformed and modernized the parish plant. The new star-shaped church was located at the corner of North Main Street and Maplewood Avenue at the site of the former convent. The semi-circular seating arrangement could accommodate 1,100 people. Stained glass windows depict scenes from the life of Mary. The project, which included the replacement of the rectory and old convent, produced a large debt that led to the closing of the school in 1973, the year of the parish’s centennial. Funds from the sale of the school were used to eliminate the parish debt.
To provide a common meeting place for parishioners, a parish hall was built on Maplewood Avenue in 1980. In response to a need expressed by parishioners, a twenty-four hour Adoration Chapel was formed from the former Baptistery in the vestibule of the church on July 1983. Father Martin Scholsky invited a group of Ghanaian worshipers to become part of the community in 1997.
In early 2005, the parish became part of the Catholic Communities of East Hartford North, created by joining the already linked parishes of St. Rose and St. Isaac Jogues. St. Mary’s rectory became the offices for the Cluster. As a part of a diverse community of faith and works, the “Mother Church” continues to serve her children.
On June 29, 2017 the three parishes of the Cluster were dissolved, and we became one new parish, the North American Martyrs.
The continued growth of the Ghanaian Community and their desire to form their own “quasi parish” was realized on January 1, 2019 when St. Isaac Jogues Church separated from the North American Martyrs Parish and became the St. Isaac Jogues Ghanaian Catholic Quasi Parish.