The first Our Lady of Sorrows Church was dedicated on September 22, 1889. The land, on the corner of 4th St. and Academy St. (where the current school gym now stands) was purchased for $4,000, the foundation and masonry was $1,345, carpentry was $7,000, and painting was $675. By 1900, annual collections had risen to $14,000 year.
By 1915, the parish had grown to 1,850 parishioners, with 302 students in the school. The parish had outgrown the church at its original location and so property was purchased on Prospect St. for $18,250 for an eventual new church and rectory.
The original cost of $500,000 turned out to be $600,000, equivalent to about $9,000,000 today (2020). Groundbreaking was April 15, 1929 and the church was dedicated May 18, 1930. 2 weeks later, twins Nicholas and Florence Magliaro became the first children baptized in the new church. On May 28th, Daniel Murphy and Catherine Ash became the first couple to be wed in the new church.
Beginning in 1891, Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth staffed the school and parish. 115 of them faithfully served our parish. 45 priests have also served the parish, beginning in 1878. A parish church did not yet exist at that time and the first pastor, Fr. John Saluan, lived at Seton Hall.
Our school was originally called St. Mary’s and opened in 1891. This school replaced the original 2-room school on Ward Place (then Ward Lane).The first graduating class from the new school, built in 1921. This photo is from June, 1922. The priest in the photo is Rev. William Grady, the longest serving pastor in parish history (1915-1946).
This school building, which replaced the previous school which had opened in 1891, was completed in 1921.
An addition to the school was dedicated on Sept. 14, 1957. It sits on the corner of 4th St. and Academy St., the site of the original church. It was designed to provide a new kindergarten room and a larger, more accessible auditoriumm-gymnasium. Go Crusaders!
