St. Mary's Church

St Marys Church.jpg (93962 bytes)

St. Mary’s Church

In the Township of Croton, located at Locust and 48th Streets, stands St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Built in 1853 on a 22 rod square section of land, it was the first church built in Newaygo County.

The original building was eighteen feet by twenty. In 1930, an additional 18 square feet were added. Shortly after that, a new steel roof was installed.

St. Mary’s was used until the fall of 1943 when a new parish, St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, was built in Newaygo. St. Mary’s became the Mission of St. Bartholomew’s and fell into disuse.

In 1976, through St. Bartholomew’s pastor Father Jude, St. Mary’s was given to the Newaygo County Historical Society with the right to restore the building to its original state. Germane Carpenter of the Society took charge of finding volunteers and materials to repair the church.

The interior of the church was cleared of the debris that had accumulated over the years. The original crucifix was even found, nearly 150 years old. The chimney was rebuilt, window panes puttied, a new roof was put on, rotted siding was replaced, and the whole building was repainted.

Rededication of the church was held on June 10, 1979 with approximately 152 people crowded into the space that normally seated around 80 persons. About 60 people peered in from outside.

When St. Mary’s was turned over to the Historical Society, it was decided to make it into an Inter-denominational Church. Many of those who attended the rededication were direct descendants of the original builders and had attended church there years ago.

The church was painted in the late 1990's and again in 2007.

On the second Sunday in September of every year, The Newaygo County Society of History and Genealogy meets at St. Mary's Church to remember the history and celebrate with song. We will meet at 3:00pm in 2008.