History of Our Parish

The earliest record of Mass being celebrated in Hampshire County was in 1806, but it wasn’t until decades later that an influx of immigrants from Europe prompted the Diocese of Boston to minister to the needs of our region. Over the second half of the nineteenth century, five parishes were established here in Northampton:

• Our Lady of the Assumption parish, later known as Saint Mary of the Assumption, held its first Mass on Christmas Day in 1845, and in 1881, a church was constructed at the foot of Elm Street in Northampton. The bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Springfield officiated at the dedication.

• Annunciation Parish was created in 1878 to serve Catholics in the Florence and Leeds sections of Northampton, along with the nearby village of Haydenville. Their church on Beacon Street in Florence now serves as the chapel of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.

• Sacred Heart Parish was established in 1885 to serve French-speaking residents of Northampton, who constructed a church on King Street. That structure, of Georgian ecclesiastical design, is now the main church of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.

• Blessed Sacrament Parish was established to provide a convenient site for the growing Catholic population of the Bay State section of Northampton. That church, of Swiss design, was built on Elm Street in 1899.

• Saint John Cantius Parish was formed in 1904 to serve the Polish community of Northampton, and their Roman architecture church on Hawley Street opened in 1913. 

As the twentieth century drew to a close, the number of parishioners and clergy available to serve them resulted in the merger of these five parishes. The first Mass of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish was celebrated on January 4, 2010, the feast day of our namesake. Although our parish was recently formed, we are part of the long Catholic tradition here in western Massachusetts.